The book tells of the great battles, fought upon Northumbrian soil, which changed the course not just of regional, but of national history. The writer accompanies the reader along a timeline of events, a journey through 1600 years of Northumbrian history, from the Roman Invasion to the English Civil War.

Inspired in part by the journals and collections of Victorian historians and antiquarians, the book recalls not only the clashing armour of England and Scotland but also the random acts of casual, everyday violence, affecting individuals whose names, unfamiliar today, have almost been lost to history. These, together with the ravages of the Black Death and the cruelties of religious persecution across Northumbria, complete the story of its bloody history.