Dimensions
136 x 216 x 17mm
1066 is probably the best-known date in English history: the year of the Norman Conquest. Yet how many of us are familiar with the events that led up to the invasion, and do we know at what point in the year King Harold met his death?
David Howarth's enthralling history tells the story of that momentous year from the death of Edward the Confessor in January 1066 to the Christmas coronation of Duke William in Normandy. He brings alive the court intrigue of Harold's struggle for the English crown, the separate invasion from Norway by the raucous King Harald Hardrada and Tostig, the deposed Earl of Northumbria, brilliantly foiled by Harold, and then the forced march south to confront William and his soldiers at the Battle of Hastings.
Drawing on a wealth of contemporary sources, David Howarth gives us brilliant portraits of the leading characters and their motivations. Above all, he makes us see events from the viewpoint of ordinary men and women - showing us how they lived and worked, and why they were willing to kill and be killed in defence of England.
