I realize that this may have been intentional; the author may have been alluding to the fact that life and history itself moved much slower in Pre-Roman times, and hence, so does the novel. But even if that were the intention of the author, the personal intrigues of the characters themselves need not have been sacrificed as much, nor did the detail of the historical/political landscape have to be twice as meticulous in the latter chapters than it was in the earlier chapters. A first novel, Rutherfurd's sweeping saga of the area surrounding Stonehenge and Salisbury, England, covers 10,000 years and includes many generations of five families. Each family has one or more characteristic types who appear in successive centuries: the round-headed balding man who is good with his hands; the blue-eyed blonde woman who insists on having her independence; the dark, narrow-faced fisher of river waters and secrets. Their fortunes rise and fall both economically and politically, but the land triumphs over the passage of time and the ravages of humans. Rutherfurd has told the story of the land he was born in and has told it well. The verbosity of a Michener is missing, but all the other elements are present, from geology and archaeology to a rich story of human life. Highly recommended.'

Sarum

Robinson, J. Armitage. "Peter of Blois" in Somerset Historical Essays, pp.128f. Oxford University Press (London), 1921. A final bit of praise; it is a freakin delight to read a historical epic centered around the 'domestic.' Conquests and assassinations can be fun, but wool trading and cathedral building is what history is really made of, and this book makes those feel appropriately awe inspiring.Crittall, Elizabeth, ed. (1962). "Salisbury: The word 'Sarum' ". A History of the County of Wiltshire, Volume 6. Victoria County History. University of London. pp.93–94 . Retrieved 5 November 2021– via British History Online. Not that the first two thirds are without some faults. The characters are sometimes presented with less depth because of the sheer amount of historical ground that needs to be covered. Descriptions do tend to get a bit heavy and drag down the action at times. And by the time we get to New Sarum, the connections between the families, and their respective places in the town/region can become a bit confusing. (Treating each section as a totally separate story despite references to previous sections will help inoculate the reader against this.) There is also a family tree provided at the beginning to which the reader will refer frequently. The story covers major points of British history. The following chapter listing parallels major periods and events: With that established in one's mind at the outset, several factors about the book itself also make its consumption easier. For example, Rutherford's prose is usually easy and unassuming. Descriptive without being adjective fodder, the descriptions he gives of places and people are enough to provide one with an image without putting one to sleep for much of the novel. This is especially true for the first two thirds of the piece. The prose is factual and informative rather than poetical or lyrical. This is not a book where you ponder the philosophical.

Edward Rutherfurd

In the final third, the slightly shallower character development, for which we can forgive the author earlier on, becomes a bit of a liability. As a result, the final third of the book is in fact less intriguing, imaginative and easy to read than the first two-thirds. The neolithic hunter-gatherers, the farming communities who built Stonehenge, the Roman invaders, the Saxons, Vikings and Normans all pass before us, and then their descendants slowly form the basis of our modern English society. It is a magnificent story, chronicling the rise and fall of noble families, the enterprise and acumen of certain individuals, both fictional and historical, and the social and political affairs of the days in which they lived. Chief among the proponents of Sarum customs was the Anglican priest Percy Dearmer, who put these into practice (according to his own interpretation) at his parish of St Mary the Virgin, Primrose Hill, in London. He explained them at length in The Parson's Handbook, which ran through several editions. [21] This style of worship has been retained in some present-day Anglican churches and monastic institutions, where it is known as "English Use" (Dearmer's term) or "Prayer Book Catholicism". Dearmer, Percy (1907). The parson's handbook: containing practical directions both for parsons and others as to the management of the Parish Church and its services according to the English use, as set forth in the Book of Common Prayer (7ed.). London: Oxford University Press. pp.226–241.Further, the final third abandoned the previously mentioned delightful recurring device, and the reader feels cheated as it had been set up as a device that one expects to see again and again. Another virtue is Rutherford's willingness to speculate into the murkier eras of history. Authors are naturally drawn to preexisting literatures/records, with the result being an avalanche of books about Roman colonization and Tudor court dramas. In contrast, the strongest chapters of this book are the under-examined eras of England; the construction of 'The Henge,' the aftermath of the Romans, the politics of the Angles, and the economics of the Edict of Expulsion are just a few highlights (to be fair the Bubonic Plague chapter is also a slapper). Some dioceses issued their own missals, inspired by the Sarum rite, but with their own particular prayers and ceremonies. Some of these are so different that they have been identified as effectively distinct liturgies, such as those of Hereford, York, Bangor, and Aberdeen. Other missals (such as those of Lincoln Cathedral or Westminster Abbey) were more evidently based on the Sarum rite and varied only in details. [6] The present name seems to be a ghost word or corruption of the medieval Latin and Norman forms of the name Salisbury, such as the Sarisburie that appeared in the Domesday Book of 1086. [1] (These were adaptions of the earlier names Searoburh, [2] Searobyrig, [3] and Searesbyrig, [4] [5] [6] calques of the indigenous Brittonic name with the Old English suffixes - burh and - byrig, denoting fortresses or their adjacent settlements.) The longer name was first abbreviated as Sar̅, but, as such a mark was used to contract the Latin suffix -um (common in placenames), the name was confused and became Sarum sometime around the 13th century. The earliest known use was on the seal of the St Nicholas hospital at New Salisbury, which was in use in 1239. The 14th-century Bishop Wyvil was the first to describe himself as episcopus Sarum. [7] The addition of 'old' to the name distinguished it from New Sarum, the formal name of the present-day city of Salisbury until 2009. Edward has lived in London, New York, New Hampshire and Ireland. He currently divides his time between New England and Europe. He has two children.