Offa: the quality of Mercia, Richard Stone, RSE Publishing, 2012, 34p, ISBN 978-0-9536-5273-0. £4-50. Available post-free from Richard Stone at 33 Arden Road, Barton-under-Needwood DE13 8LE, cheques made payable to ‘Richard Stone'.

Offa was first and foremost king of Mercia [757-796] but he also had an undoubted national and international status. In this short pamphlet Richard Stone presents what is known about Offa in a coherent way, reflecting on the reliability of the available sources, and he offers his interpretation of both the evidence and of Offa himself. This is a very useful introduction and summary.