The last comprehensive account of Kent in prehistory was published over 100 years ago, and for the first half of the last century prehistoric Kent was seen as something of a backwater compared with Wessex. But a great deal of productive rescue archaeology over the last 50 years has changed this perspective, and Paul Ahbee (who has known the county ant its ancient monuments since his schooldays) has produced an up-to-date account that is both comprehensive and accessible.

Having first covered the work of the early antiquaries and pioneer prehistorians and the broad environmental features of the county, Dr Ashbee explains the long Palaeolithic lineage and the Mesolithic interlude before covering in detail the great chambered tombs of the Neolithic (such as Kits Coty) and the Iron Age with its great hill forts like Bigbury and Oldbury.