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    The Norman Conquest: The Battle of Hastings and the Fall of Anglo-Saxon England
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    The Norman Conquest: The Battle of Hastings and the Fall of Anglo-Saxon England
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    The Norman Conquest: The Battle of Hastings and the Fall of Anglo-Saxon England
    Ebook642 pages11 hours

    The Norman Conquest: The Battle of Hastings and the Fall of Anglo-Saxon England

    By Marc Morris

    4/5

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    Currently unavailable

    Currently unavailable

    About this ebook

    This riveting and authoritative USA Today and Wall Street Journal bestseller is “a much-needed, modern account of the Normans in England” (The Times, London).

    The Norman Conquest was the most significant military—and cultural—episode in English history. An invasion on a scale not seen since the days of the Romans, it was capped by one of the bloodiest and most decisive battles ever fought. Language, law, architecture, and even attitudes toward life itself —from the destruction of the ancient ruling class to the sudden introduction of castles and the massive rebuilding of every major church—were altered forever by the coming of the Normans. But why was this revolution so total?

    Reassessing original evidence, acclaimed historian and broadcaster Marc Morris goes beyond the familiar story of William the Conqueror, an upstart French duke who defeated the most powerful kingdom in Christendom. Morris explains why England was so vulnerable to attack; why the Normans possessed the military cutting edge though they were perceived as less sophisticated in some respects; and why William’s hopes of a united Anglo-Norman realm unraveled, dashed by English rebellions, Viking invasions, and the insatiable demands of his fellow conquerors.

    Named one of the best books of the year by the Kansas City Star, who called the work “stunning in its action and drama,” and the Providence Journal, who hailed it “meticulous and absorbing,” this USA Today and Wall Street Journal bestseller is a tale of gripping drama, epic clashes, and seismic social change.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherPegasus Books
    Release dateJul 2, 2013
    ISBN9781453298961
    Unavailable
    The Norman Conquest: The Battle of Hastings and the Fall of Anglo-Saxon England
    Author

    Marc Morris

    Marc Morris is a historian specializing in the Middle Ages. He is the author of A Great and Terrible King; King John; and the Wall Street Journal and USA Today bestselling The Norman Conquest. Marc lives in England.

    Read more from Marc Morris

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    Reviews for The Norman Conquest

    4/5

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    • 5/5
      Wonderful writing and broad depth of facts make a fine readable history
    • 4/5
      This is a very well-written history of a famous historical event that has no doubt been written about thousands of times over the centuries. The author uses rather simple and direct language (e.g., "Æthelred made an invaluable contribution to the war effort by dropping dead . . .") to explain the origins and consequences of this event, and how England eventually absorbed its foreign invaders and re-established its identity as a unified English-speaking nation.
    • 5/5
      The Norman Conquest of England was a seminal event in world history. This non-fiction work examines not only the invasion by William the Conqueror in 1066, but the immediate past history of the British Isles, the changes brought about by the conquest, and the immediate and long-term ramifications thereof.The sources of the period are scanty, not entirely reliable and frequently conflicting. The author explains this very well, setting out the inherent biases of the sources and suggesting the most likely course of events. Apart from the historical significance, it is an incredibly fascination story, some of which was unfamiliar to me. If you enjoy history, I can heartily endorse this work.
    • 5/5
      Marc Morris' The Norman Conquest is a splendid read that corrects many misconceptions about 1066. Among the most important are that England was being invaded by numerous outside forces, the Normans being but the most successful among them, that Harold Godwinson was only a summer king who ruled for less than a year. His family controlled the government of Edward the Confessor during his final years but lacked the legitimacy and the resources to prevent either a Norman or Danish push. Harold famously managed to contain the opportunistic Norwegian invasion but then rushed South too fast to defeat William at the coast. He should have collected the strength of his army first. His lack of legitimacy, however, made the waiting game a risky proposition. The Normans won not due to their military superiority but, similar to the Romans, thanks to their better logistics, use of mercenaries and fortifications. The English could not sustain their resistance, especially as they were hardly ever united internally. Most of the time, they relied on external partners in Wales, Scotland, Denmark etc. who in case of success would have attempted to replace the Normans and hardly had given the English their liberties back. An important fact is also that it was not over in 1066 but the conquest and pacification continued until the 1070s with the complete purge and replacement of the English aristocrats by Norman ones (as documented in the two Domesday books). Curiously, it took the loss of first Normandy and later France to truly make the Normans English.Given the martial title, I would have expected a bit more military account, especially the battle of Hastings is covered not as detailed as in other accounts. Morris' interest is in family politics and in the great cast of characters about whose stories he has written a wonderful book.
    • 5/5
      This is an excellent account of this most pivotal event in English history, told in a very readable and engaging way, while never sacrificing a proper critical use of the primary sources, drawing on the works of the contemporary or near-contemporary chroniclers from England and Normandy, the Anglo Saxon Chronicle and (of course) the Bayeux Tapestry. In fact it is really a political and military history of the whole eleventh century from the Viking raids on Ethelred's England until the death of the Conqueror in France in 1087. It certainly was a turbulent and extremely colourful period, of which the Norman Conquest and, more specifically, the Battle of Hastings, is undoubtedly the best known event, but which must be understood in the context of its time, with Normandy as a fairly recently emerged duchy, and England having its large Danish influence. The artefacts that are so well known, i.e. the Tapestry and the Domesday Book, are unique survivals of their kind, without which our knowledge of the period would be much poorer. In his introduction, the author laments the paucity of sources for the 11th century compared to those present just two centuries later which he used in his previous book on Edward I, A Great and Terrible King; for example thanks to surviving documents, we know where Edward I was for almost every day of his reign, but very rarely exactly where William was. Paradoxically, I think the fact that so much has to be squeezed out of so few sources makes this book a much smoother read than his book on Edward I; that, and to some extent, my greater familiarity with the detailed course of events. Thoroughly recommended.
    • 5/5
      At one point in 'The Norman Conquest', writing about the Bayeux Tapestry, Marc Morris says; "No other source takes us so immediately and so vividly back to that lost time."

      I'll say exactly the same about this book.

      It really is an astoundingly well written and well put together book. Easily the Norman period's equivalent of Max Hastings' 'All Hell Let Loose' and Anthony Beevor's 'The Second World War.' For what it's worth, for me, that's the highest praise I can come up with. As with those two, this really deserves at least 6 stars.

      You know what happened don't you? Normans come over, beat Harold at Hastings, conquered us, spoke French, tormented Robin Hood, etc, etc. But wait. Do you really know what happened, or why, or where?

      'The Norman Conquest' is packed full of stuff you didn't know. Or thought you knew, but as you will soon find out, had wrong. For one (and I'm not giving anything away as if you read the first few pages in a bookshop while deciding about getting it, you'll come across this); The Bayeux Tapestry. Not a tapestry. Not made in Bayeux. And once that has finished rocking your Norman world, you're ready to read on.

      Marc Morris has an open, inviting and encouragingly readable style. He's very honest and critical when discussing the few sources we have for events of this period in an excellent 'down-to-earth', matter of fact style. He's very good at cutting through the reams of ancient hype and he's perfect at reading between the medieval lines of 1,000-year old press releases and spin doctors' erm…spin. History written by the victors and by the losers (sometimes for the victors), has been simmered down and when the mists have cleared, we have Marc Morris' The Norman Conquest.'

      This is surely how to write a modern non-fiction history book and I thought the back-cover quote from someone reviewing it in 'The Times' had it about right: "Compelling…Morris sorts embroidery from evidence and provides a much needed, modern account of the Normans in England that respects past events more than present ideologies."

      If you have even a passing interesting in reading Justin Hill's 'Shieldwall', James Wilde's 'Hereward' series, Angus Donald's 'Outlaw' series, or James Aitcheson's 'Conquest' series, or even if you have read one, more, or all of the above - think of this as a companion piece. Read 'The Norman Conquest' and you'll get even more enjoyment out of them. Even in retrospect.