Sir Francis Palgrave (1788–1861) was a distinguished English historian, solicitor and antiquarian, now considered to be the founder of the Public Record Office. After his death, Palgrave's son Sir Inglis Palgrave edited his Collected Historical Works, which focus mostly on the Anglo-Norman and Middle Ages. Originally published in 1921, this sixth volume of the Collected Historical Works contains the text of the first part of Palgrave's history of the rise of the English commonwealth in the Anglo-Saxon period, with a focus on the modern structures that have their roots in Anglo-Saxon policies. Editorial notes are supplied at the back of the volume. This book will be of value to anyone with an interest in Anglo-Saxon history or in Victorian historiography.