Campaigns of the Norman Conquest
(Matthew Bennett)
This book provides a full introduction to the Norman Conquest, an event which resulted in dramatic changes to the nation's aristocracy, church and administration. It brought a new language and cultural influences and revolutionised military architecture with the introduction of the castle. This profound impact was not brought about as the result of a single battle and it took a five-year war for William to establish control over his new kingdom. The campaigns are studied in detail, with maps showing how William's energy and strategic intelligence enabled him to defeat his formidable opponents and create a new order.
England and Its Rulers, 1066-1272: With an Epilogue on Edward I (1272-1307)
(M. T. Clanchy)
England and its Rulers has established itself as an attractive and authoritative account of English history from 1066. It brings the chronicle sources to life and makes original assessments of the kings and political events. Examining a period in which England was dominated by successive waves of foreign rulers, the book emphasizes how the Norman Conquest was followed by the Angevin Empire and then by the Poitevin ministers and favorites brought in by King John and Henry III. The identity of English culture is analyzed in the light of these strong external influences.This new edition retains the characteristics of the widely-acclaimed original, but it now includes an epilog on Edward I (1272-1307), which considers his wars in Wales and Scotland and reassesses his character and achievements. The second edition also contains a new bibliography covering all aspects of English history in the period 1066-1307.
The Normans and the Norman Conquest
(R. Allen Brown)
The introduction of Brown's book should be made compulsory reading- LONDON REVIEW OF BOOKSThe `English' who faced the forces of William duke of Normandy on 14 October 1066 were by no means a pure-bred and unified race, nor was the flower of England's manhood laid low by an army of self-seeking Norman opportunists. R. Allen Brown traces the forces and influences that shaped both England and Normandy in the decades before 1066, and shows how the new order, emerging from the aftermath of the battle of Hastings, produced a degree of political unity and social dynamism previously unknown in England, bringing a reinvigorated nation fully into the mainstream of the dynamic expansion of western Latin Christendom.R. ALLEN BROWN was professor of History at King's College, London and founder of the annual Battle Conference on Anglo-Norman studies.
William the Conqueror
(David Bates)
William the Conqueror was a formidable personality, whose political imagination and ruthless will were the driving force of the Norman Conquest of England. In this biography, David Bates describes the full scope of William’s achievements in both Normandy and England, setting them firmly in the context of Europe in an age of change and turmoil. William showed himself to be an outstanding soldier and an extremely effective ruler, who combined great fortitude with an unbending insistence on his own authority. He was also cruel, greedy and intolerant—a man who pitilessly stamped out opposition and shamelessly manipulated facts to justify dubious enterprises.
David Bates is Professor of Medieval History at the University of Glasgow and is regarded as a leading expert on William the Conqueror. His other books include Domesday Book, also published by Tempus.
