1066: The Year of the Conquest

By David Howarth

Book Overview

The year 1066 is one of the most important dates in the history of the Western world: the year William the Conqueror defeated the English at the Battle of Hastings and changed England and the English... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0140058508
• ISBN13: 9780140058505
• Release Date: August 1981
• Publisher: Penguin Books
• Length: 208 Pages
• Weight: 0.77 lbs.
• Dimensions: 7.8" x 0.4" x 4.9"

Customer Reviews

What if?

Too many "probably", " maybe," " could be," etc. I put it in the little lending library. Not a keeper.

An informative and enjoyable read.

The author take several historical sources, considers their bias along with his own, and give a historical account that is driven by an underlying plot. The author rarely gets bogged down in historical minute details and offers an enjoyable fast paced read.

A very good read...

I have read this book for sheer pleasure at least four times since I came across it a few years ago. David Howarth writes extremely well and does an excellent job of engaging the reader in the times, the events, and the characters, making the presented facts much more memorable than they would be in a "scholarly" work. I would recommend this book to anyone as a valuable introduction to the history of the Norman Conquest, or just as an enjoyable book.

History at its very best

I first read this book back in the late 1970s when it was first published and since then I've read nearly every book by David Howarth. He is the consumate popular historian, who makes history really come alive for the reader.1066 is probably his best book and is certainly my favourite book of history. He takes the reader through the main events of that year, introduces the major players in the story he is unfolding, and speculates about their motives and on the way history has dealt with the story (ie history comes down to us as told by the winners).He makes people like King Harold, William the Bastard and the amazing Harald Hardrada of Norway real for the reader. At the end you are left wondering how English history might have been if just one of the events he descibes had turned out differently.A truly wonderful book - history at its very best.