The reign of King Edgar is undoubtedly a crucial one in the history of tenth-century England, yet it remains an enigmatic one in many respects because of the paucity of reliable evidence for it. This book takes a fresh look at what evidence there is, and evaluates it in new and significant ways. The origin of the collection of essays that it contains was in presentations to an international conference organized by the Manchester Centre for Anglo-Saxon Studies in April 2005, the latest of an on-going series on Anglo-Saxon kings from Offa to Harthacnut. I am very grateful for help with the administration of this conference by Brian Schneider, and acknowledge a generous grant by the British Academy in its support.

At the Edgar conference, nine of the essays in this book were presented, although they have been extensively rewritten and enlarged for the present purpose. To them three new essays are added, those of Simon Keynes, Chris Lewis and Barbara yorke, and in addition the valuable conspectus of charters prepared by Simon Keynes which will surely now become the foundation of study for the period. Keynes' wide-ranging essay which opens the book is based on the charter evidence, and is comparable with his seminal study of Edgar's son, The Diplomas of King Æthelred (Cambridge, 1980). It seems to me that his review of Edgar's reign will prove just as important and extensively quoted as the latter.