William the Conqueror: The Norman Impact upon England

Rating:
Summary: A Conqueroring Book
Review: A Classic in any genre! David C. Douglas has made a contribution to literatrue of monumental proportions. No mater if you are a seasoned historian or will never read another book about eourpean history again. I beg of you to make this the one. The story of a young Duke overcoming insurmountable odds, congueroring a nation, and changing the course of history. Hollywood could not write a better script. And David C. Douglas could not have written a better book.

Rating:
Summary: A Conqueroring Book
Review: A Classic in any genre! David C. Douglas has made a contribution to literatrue of monumental proportions. No mater if you are a seasoned historian or will never read another book about eourpean history again. I beg of you to make this the one. The story of a young Duke overcoming insurmountable odds, congueroring a nation, and changing the course of history. Hollywood could not write a better script. And David C. Douglas could not have written a better book.

Rating:
Summary: Solid work of scholarship
Review: David C. Douglas does an excellent job in his attempt to portray the events of William the Conqueror's life. He performs the task of drawing the many aspects of his life together in a very precise manner. The only drawback is that in some places the book's readability suffers from dense information. The amount of research done had to be tremendous considering all the information you come across in the book. I found the descriptions of the ecclesiastical revival in Normandy and subsequently England to be very fascinating. I would recommend this book to anyone who wants to learn more about the life behind the legend that is William the Conqueror.

Rating:
Summary: Solid work of scholarship
Review: David C. Douglas does an excellent job in his attempt to portray the events of William the Conqueror's life. He performs the task of drawing the many aspects of his life together in a very precise manner. The only drawback is that in some places the book's readability suffers from dense information. The amount of research done had to be tremendous considering all the information you come across in the book. I found the descriptions of the ecclesiastical revival in Normandy and subsequently England to be very fascinating. I would recommend this book to anyone who wants to learn more about the life behind the legend that is William the Conqueror.

Rating:
Summary: Early Norman History - In Detail
Review: David C. Douglas provides a scholarly analysis of the period leading up to the Battle of Hastings in 1066. He includes much detail on the complex kinship and political relationsips of the Norman, English and Scandinavian nobility of the period in both France and England. Gives a clear picture of the influence of William's policies and achievements on England after the conquest. Useful for Geneaologists and Historians. If you are looking for the details, this is the book.

Rating:
Summary: Fantastic if you're at the right level
Review: I noticed and purchased this book on pure whim, in one of those weird moods we sometimes enter when we want to learn about something of which we have absolutely no knowledge. I did absolutely no background reading, and simply jumped right in. Mistake? I think so. And yet I still feel as though I got a great deal out of this read. "William the Conqueror" is quite fascinating, it's a sort of English/Norman/French who's who in the late 11th century, and you get a great feel for the major players and their vacillating loyalties. On the other hand, there are periodic tangents (of biblical proportions, i.e. this duke married the slave girl of this count, whose mother was involved in the treacherous coup d'etatic plot of so and so, and so on for a while). Sans those occasional outburst of, truly, excess info - this is fantastic stuff. William was able to overcome (what I feel to be) more than insurmountable odds at the beginning of his rule to change the entire face and future of the English monarchy. We can only wonder what might Europe be like today had Harold been victorious at Hastings (he almost was!), and what impact it could have on us.

Rating:
Summary: Fantastic if you're at the right level
Review: I noticed and purchased this book on pure whim, in one of those weird moods we sometimes enter when we want to learn about something of which we have absolutely no knowledge. I did absolutely no background reading, and simply jumped right in. Mistake? I think so. And yet I still feel as though I got a great deal out of this read. "William the Conqueror" is quite fascinating, it's a sort of English/Norman/French who's who in the late 11th century, and you get a great feel for the major players and their vacillating loyalties. On the other hand, there are periodic tangents (of biblical proportions, i.e. this duke married the slave girl of this count, whose mother was involved in the treacherous coup d'etatic plot of so and so, and so on for a while). Sans those occasional outburst of, truly, excess info - this is fantastic stuff. William was able to overcome (what I feel to be) more than insurmountable odds at the beginning of his rule to change the entire face and future of the English monarchy. We can only wonder what might Europe be like today had Harold been victorious at Hastings (he almost was!), and what impact it could have on us.

Rating:
Summary: Excellent Reading on the Era of Duke William
Review: If you are interested in the history of Norman England, or the impact the invasion of 1066 had on England (and the world!), this is the book for you. While not the 'easiest' reading, this is definitely a book for those seeking details and full accounts of the life and times of the one known by his contemporaries as 'William the Bastard'. I would rank this book right up there with Dungeon, Fire, and Sword on like-ability! This book should be on every medieval historian's bookshelf!

Rating:
Summary: Douglas the Best
Review: If you are interested in the Norman history or in the Norman impact upon England or just simply in a very exciting ruler of the eleventh century, this is a must read. The book depicts the complex and vivid life of the eleventh century through the life of one of the greatest monarchs of the eleventh century. I was especially interested in the first two sections of the book: The Young Duke and The Duke in his Duchy. In this chapters you can feel the pulse of the life of this era. It is a very well researched book. Whenever you feel that there is a gap in the story it is instantly filled by the excellent footnotes or by the appendixes. Every question of mine, which were raised out of my mind reading the book, were answered within few pages. The excellent description of the battles is another adventage of the book. Anyway you can say thousands of words boasting this book but you had better read it. It is a real MASTERPIECE with real capital letters.

Rating:
Summary: VERY INTERESTING AND WELL-ORGANIZED
Review: This book is organized into 4 sections: The Young Duke, The Duke in his Duchy, The Establishment of the Anglo-Norman Kingdom, and The King in his Kingdom. This framework is perfectly logical and helps bring understanding to the life of William the Conqueror, one of the pivotal figures of the past 1000 years. Going into this book I knew about the Battle of Hastings and the Domesday Book; I also knew a little about the struggles between Anglo-Saxons and Normans after the conquest. But I knew nothing about the subject matter of the book's first two sections. Douglas does a terrific job of providing historical context to William's career. He explains the Viking origins of Normandy, and it's relations with the Viking kingdoms, England, France, and the Vatican. These all prove to be vital relations throughout William's life. What surprised me is how much turmoil William endured within Normandy itself, not only during his rise to power, but even after the conquest and until his death. These turmoils include his illegitimate birth, constantly shifting alliances, and the rebellion of his son. I knew of his military prowess, but his political abilities sustained him as much as anything, and Douglas does a good job of illuminating these abilities, particularly during that critical period immediately following the conquest, when Norman institutions were put into effect in England. The book explains not just the Norman influence on England, but the sort of reciprocal relationship that came to exist between kingdom and duchy. The sections of the book concerning battles are very well done, and provide good details on the tactics, strategies, and terrains. The book has the usual appendices of family trees (which help immensely when trying to understand some of the political landscape). It also has a couple of interesting essays in the appendices, my favorite of which is intriguingly titled, "On poisoning as a method of political action in eleventh-century Normandy." In the end, I came away highly impressed with both the accomplishments of William the Conqueror, and the manner in which David Douglas conveyed them.