1066 and Before All That

The Battle of Hastings, Anglo-Saxon, and Norman England

By: Ed West

Narrated by: Steven Crossley

A riveting account of the most consequential year in English history, marked by bloody conflict with invaders on all sides.

The most famous date in history is 1066, and with good reason, since no battle in medieval history had such a devastating effect on its losers as the Battle of Hastings, which altered the entire course of English history.

The French-speaking Normans were the preeminent warriors of the 11th century and based their entire society around conflict. They were led by William "the Bastard", a formidable, ruthless warrior who was convinced that his half-Norman cousin, Edward the Confessor, had promised him the throne of England. However, when Edward died in January 1066, Harold Godwinson, the richest earl in the land and the son of a pirate, took the throne.... This left William no choice but to forcibly claim what he believed to be his right. What ensued was one of the bloodiest periods of English history, with a body count that might make even George R. R. Martin balk.

Pitched at newcomers to the subject, this book will explain how the disastrous battle changed England—and the English—forever, introducing the medieval world of chivalry, castles, and horse-bound knights. It is the first part in the new A Very, Very Short History of England series, which aims to capture the major moments of English history with humor and bite.

©2017 Ed West (P)2022 Blackstone Publishing

Fantastic

This was an amazing book, very well written, clever, funny, and above all informative. It was fun to learn about my terrible Anglo-Saxon and Norman forebears.

Series Continues Strong

Picking up where the first book, Vikings vs. Saxons, left off, this volume caries the story through and beyond the Norman Conquest to 1215. Though it is easy to get lost in the forest of Norman names and titles, author and narrator soldier on successfully, brightly. and often amusingly on the road to the Magna Carta.

Liked it

Enjoyed the way it as read, narration was. Lear. Topic is my wheelhouse yet the tidbits of information were terribly fun

Cursory introduction to the early middle ages in England

It was alright, definitely a short introduction to the period, but not really worth listening to if you already have a good understanding of the events. There were some instances where some disputable events and known myths were repeated uncritically, which was baffling as the author addressed the historiography and some of the different versions of events in many other places. And especially when referring to non-English history, there were some well-known apocryphal stories, generalizations and out-of-date analyses that were casually repeated.

Personally, I found the frequent quips at the end of a paragraph unhelpful, and sometimes harmful. Note moreover that this book seems intended for an English audience, probably male and over 50. The narrator was good.

Nutshell content delivered with tart humor

OVERALL - A smattering of what, when and who providing what happened prior to 1066; however, based upon who wrote documents, etc., in favor of their champion at that time. Plus more references of who these people were, how they linked with the events of these times, etc. Lots of plots, greed, murders and mayhem! PERFORMANCE - Delightfully narrated with punch line type sarcasm. Thoroughly enjoyed this! STORY - Truth is better than fiction and these times particularly vicious, cruel and maniacal; which is to be expected as it seems the well behaved were slaughtered.