About the Author

Dr Janina Ramirez is a Sunday Times bestselling author, an Oxford lecturer, BBC broadcaster and researcher. She has presented and written over 30 hours of BBC history documentaries and series on TV and radio, and written seven books for children and adults.

Reviews

What a wonderful book this is. Like the interlace stonework on an Anglo-Saxon cross, Janina Ramirez's themes are interwoven with a consummate skill.
*Tom Holland*

Ramirez blasts a powerful spotlight into the so-called Dark Ages and reveals a vibrant world, awash with colour and character.
*Dan Snow*

A wonderful book
*Simon Schama*

Entertaining ... carefully composed
*Observer*

Those who were recast as saints achieved a superhuman status, their real lives often obscured by hagiographies rich with legends of miracle-working from beyond the grave. Janina Ramirez's book portrays them historically – as living, breathing personalities within the world they knew, the places we have inherited. Her enthusiasm and instinct for relevance should welcome a broad new audience to medieval Church history.
*Jonathan Foyle*

What a wonderful book this is. Like the interlace stonework on an Anglo-Saxon cross, Janina Ramirez's themes are interwoven with a consummate skill.
*Tom Holland*

Ramirez blasts a powerful spotlight into the so-called Dark Ages and reveals a vibrant world, awash with colour and character.
*Dan Snow*

A wonderful book
*Simon Schama*

Entertaining ... carefully composed
*Observer*

Those who were recast as saints achieved a superhuman status, their real lives often obscured by hagiographies rich with legends of miracle-working from beyond the grave. Janina Ramirez's book portrays them historically – as living, breathing personalities within the world they knew, the places we have inherited. Her enthusiasm and instinct for relevance should welcome a broad new audience to medieval Church history.
*Jonathan Foyle*

What a wonderful book this is. Like the interlace stonework on an Anglo-Saxon cross, Janina Ramirez's themes are interwoven with a consummate skill.
*Tom Holland*

Ramirez blasts a powerful spotlight into the so-called Dark Ages and reveals a vibrant world, awash with colour and character.
*Dan Snow*

A wonderful book
*Simon Schama*

Entertaining ... carefully composed
*Observer*

Those who were recast as saints achieved a superhuman status, their real lives often obscured by hagiographies rich with legends of miracle-working from beyond the grave. Janina Ramirez's book portrays them historically – as living, breathing personalities within the world they knew, the places we have inherited. Her enthusiasm and instinct for relevance should welcome a broad new audience to medieval Church history.
*Jonathan Foyle*