• List of figures; List of abbreviations; Acknowledgements; 1. Introduction; 2. Monasticism, spiritual patronage and social structure; 3. Land, kinship and status; 4. Local power: collective action, conflict and consensus; 5. Locality and centre: mechanisms of extraction; 6. Political power from the fifth to the eleventh century; 7. Conclusion: state and society in the early medieval west; Bibliography; Index.

'… what … makes his work outstanding is his grasp of the big picture, and his preparedness to address and resolve questions of structure and theory. Seldom can a young scholar's first book be greeted with superlatives. This is such a book.' Journal of Ecclesiastical History

• List of figures; List of abbreviations; Acknowledgements; 1. Introduction; 2. Monasticism, spiritual patronage and social structure; 3. Land, kinship and status; 4. Local power: collective action, conflict and consensus; 5. Locality and centre: mechanisms of extraction; 6. Political power from the fifth to the eleventh century; 7. Conclusion: state and society in the early medieval west; Bibliography; Index.

'… what … makes his work outstanding is his grasp of the big picture, and his preparedness to address and resolve questions of structure and theory. Seldom can a young scholar's first book be greeted with superlatives. This is such a book.' Journal of Ecclesiastical History

• List of figures; List of abbreviations; Acknowledgements; 1. Introduction; 2. Monasticism, spiritual patronage and social structure; 3. Land, kinship and status; 4. Local power: collective action, conflict and consensus; 5. Locality and centre: mechanisms of extraction; 6. Political power from the fifth to the eleventh century; 7. Conclusion: state and society in the early medieval west; Bibliography; Index.

'… what … makes his work outstanding is his grasp of the big picture, and his preparedness to address and resolve questions of structure and theory. Seldom can a young scholar's first book be greeted with superlatives. This is such a book.' Journal of Ecclesiastical History