Like all previous editions of Bede’s Ecclesiastical History this one depends on the pioneer work of Charles Plummer in Baedae Opera Historica (Oxford, 1896 and 1956). Grateful recognition is also made to the edition and notes of B. Colgrave and R. A. B. Mynors (Oxford, 1969) and to the historical commentary by J. M. Wallace Hadrill (Oxford, 1988), which have been invaluable in providing much material for this work. Among more recent writers James Campbell, first in his essay on Bede in Latin Historians (ed. T. A. Dorey, 1966) and then in The Anglo-Saxons (1982), has placed all scholars in this field in his debt. At a late stage of preparation David Howlett and Richard Sharpe (of the Dictionary of Medieval Latin from British Sources) gave generous help, especially in the preparation of the subsidiary texts and the footnotes. For any errors none of these benefactors are responsible.