I wonder if Aitcheson is referring to the "Millennial Panic" which we've been led to believe struck Britain and Europe around the end of the first mlilennium?Why was it thought to be the End of Days? Anyway, that book looks interesting.
The story goes that people believed the Apocalypse was coming and repented of their sins left, right and centre in anticipation - in a right tizz, a bit like us over YK2 at the start of the second millennium, only over a longer scale of time on either side of AD 1000.
Interesting thing is that it appears this first Millennial Panic was largely constructed by later chroniclers and historians and probably didn't actually amount to much at all, yet like many another historical myth, it's been repeated so often that it's become received wisdom.
See article here at Suite 101:
The "Millenial Panic" of 1000 A.D. That Never Was
http://suite101.com/article/the-milleni ... z26yTIByQf