Originally published in 1950 and as a third edition in 1967, this volume traces the evolution of the English nation - the amalgamation of differing races and the unification of warring tribal princedoms into one monarchy under the stress of competition for power, the disciplinary influence of Christianity, the stimulus of foreign invasion, the compression of conquest, the centralisation of government, the standardisation of institutions, the interchange of trade, and the triumph of one common tongue in the rivalry of languages and dialects.

Helen Cam (1885-1968) was an English historian of the Middle Ages and the first woman to be appointed a tenured professor at Harvard University.