Cornwall has long held a mysterious allure to visitors. At once part of England and yet utterly foreign too.

This book is the first to explore the true origins, free from Arthurian mythology, of this dichotomy. Just how did a kingdom of native Romano-Britons hold out against the expanding power of the Saxon Kings of Wessex and eventually secure their language, culture and heritage into the modern day?

The answer is a tale that combines brutal warfare with cunning diplomacy and trade as it winds from the 4th century to 1066 and beyond, and one that shouts from the distant past 'Kernow bys Vyken' – Cornwall Forever.