Who were the Anglo-Saxons and when did they invade Britain?

Dr. dig responds:
The Romans in Britain built many forts along the south and east coasts of what is now England, precisely to fend off the occasional raiding bands of Germanic peoples called the Angles and the Saxons.

Scholars call this fortified coastline, the Saxon shore, and it was garrisoned as early as the late third century A.D., which means that these people (whom we clump together and call the Anglo-Saxons) had been making raids against Britain since at least that time.

However, the Anglo-Saxon invasions of Britain, which were to have the greatest impact on the course of British history, occurred during the fifth and sixth centuries A.D.

For an excellent source of information about the Anglo-Saxons, you might check out the following book, which is very readable and fully illustrated with full-color photographs: The Anglo-Saxons by James Campbell (Penguin Books, 1982).