Cultures in Contact: Scandinavian Settlement in England in the Ninth and Tenth Centuries. Edited by Dawn M. Hadley and Julian D. Richards. Turnhout: Brepols, 2000. Pp. vii + 331; 29 illustrations. EUR 50.

This volume divides into five main parts. In Part 1, "Problems and Perspectives," Dawn Hadley and Julian Richards launch proceedings with their "Introduction: Interdisciplinary Approaches to the Scandinavian Settlement." Querying assumptions about rapid assimilation, they posit gradual and complex processes which can only be traced through the formulation of more sophisticated research questions. Simon Trafford, in his "Ethnicity, Migration Theory, and the Historiography of the Scandinavian Settlement of England," criticizes ongoing attempts to determine the size of settler populations as flawed and urges a reinterpretation of so-called "peoples" as groups comprising individuals of varied backgrounds and descents.

Russell Poole
Massey University