'Richard Huscroft brings his trademark combination of eloquence and erudition to Making England. He sets out the twisting, turning narrative that leads from a series of separate kingdoms in the eighth century to a single strong one in the eleventh, and at the same time brings out the slow-burning institutional and social changes that underpin this story.'Rory Naismith, King's College London, UK'Richard Huscroft has written an admirably clear account of the formative period of English history from the death of King Offa of Mercia to the accession of Edward the Confessor – the period that witnessed the first emergence of a single kingdom of England and the origin and early development of so many key institutions of English political life. Making England, 796–1042 is the essential companion to Huscroft's Ruling England, 1042–1217.'Timothy Graham, The University of New Mexico, USA