Brett Hammond is building a growing reputation as a writer on coins and antiquities. He is also known to many detectorists as a source of sound information and advice for anyone who wants to identify, or dispose of, detected finds. Now he has brought all of his expertise together between the covers of a book surely destined to become essential reading for all in the hobby and many beyond.

Volume 1, of what will eventually evolve to a comprehensive series covering all cultures in British history down to post-medieval, concentrates on the date range encompassing the first embryonic Germanic settlements to the emergence of autonomous Anglo-Saxon kingdoms. Previously this period has often been tacked on to the Anglo-Saxon story as a somewhat shadowy interlude between the end of Roman rule and the full flowering of the Middle Saxon centuries. But the author has brought together a wealth of information on Germanic metalwork and ceramics; describing in more than 130 informative pages their various styles and methods of production; discussing brooches, buckles, studs, strap ends and sliders, clasps, spears, swords, scabbard fittings, shields, axes, a rich variety of bowls and vessels, pendants, bracteates, bracelets, girdle-hangers, keys, earrings, finger rings, harness fittings, even non-metallic artefacts in amber and bone, as well as glassware, gemstones, and more.

The text describes all of these wonderful finds with great accuracy and precision; so well that this volume would have proved a highly informative work without illustrations. But the author enriches the pages with around 200 professional photographs, 20 maps, and museum quality artwork.

British Artefacts Vol.1 is a serious and authoritative work that will satisfy its academic readers and probably every reader of this magazine. I particularly like the way a difficulty familiar to all writers of books on collecting has been handled: the need to provide valuations that are not out of date almost before the first print run of a new guide or catalogue has sold out. Readers of British Artefacts are invited to visit a website where a regularly updated classification for each object covered in the book can be viewed. Thus the copy you buy will remain relevant on valuations for many years to come. My verdict: Absolutely essential reading for all who pursue this hobby as a quest for knowledge as much as a quest for finds. I can't wait for Vols. II and III, covering Middle Anglo-Saxon and Viking; and Late Anglo-Saxon and Norman. I'm informed they are already on the stocks.