Hereward: The Last Englishman

by Peter Rex

This biography looks at the legendary English hero Hereward, an 11th century Anglo-Saxon leader who fought against the Norma Conquest.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Biography, Medieval History, Medieval, British Literature

223 pages, Paperback

First published February 1, 2005

About the author

Born in in 1930, Peter Rex attended St Brendan’s and Bristol University prior to earning an MA at Coventry. He taught at Huddersfield and Princethorpe College until his retirement in 1994.

Reviews

[Pete daPixie]

If you can read Rex's previous work on the English Resistance to the Norman conquest, then Hereward:The last Englishman is your next read. The true genealogy of Hereward, his military career in Flanders and his resistance war with William are expertly laid out. The confusing sequence of events as related by surviving manuscripts are clearly ironed out here. Hereward is brought out from the misty fen land of Ely into the important English knight of the 11th century that he truly was. The original Robin Hood, standing against the Norman usurpation of the land. The archaeological research of William's attacks on Ely are ongoing, and perhaps lost, but the authors investigations,and with the aid of Google Earth, I find very interesting.

[Christopher]

An amazing bit of scholarship and an indispensable follow-up to Rex's also excellent The English Resistance: The Underground War Against the Normans. Peels away the myth, legend, and misinformation surrounding Hereward and presents Hereward and the events in and around Ely late in the English resistance to the Normans firmly in their historical context. A complicated period, but Rex presents the material with compelling clarity.

[Martinxo]

Very well researched account of our local hero, Hereward, and his struggle against that swineherd William the Conqueror.

[Paul McCarthy]

Prob 3.5 as hugely researched, however often descends into paragraphs of names and disputed genealogies. Being local to where the history is set the events outlined nearly 1000 years ago is of some interest and the origins of the Isle of Ely very interesting.

[Blair Hodgkinson]

Well written and very informative book by a leading authority on the Conquest period, debunking some of the myths about a real life English folk hero.

[Achtung Englander]

Too dry.

I gave up about half way through. A lot of the time Peter Rex takes a defensive approach to history, looking to justify his own theory by debunking other historians. That could be interesting for someone looking to do a paper on the subject, unfortunately this reader is a layman who has an interest in Anglo Saxon history was looking to fill a gap in knowledge.

The subject of Hereward is really fascinating and credit to the book, Rex does lay out all the ground work on who was Hereward, the importance of the Isle of Ely, the Danish heritage and the machinations of King William I England. Sometime the book flies with interesting facts and names, but all too often Rex comes back to this is what I think - yaboo sucks.

The fascinating thing about Anglo Saxon history is that you can see it is an inspiration for a lot of books in the fantasy genre, it is just a shame this book makes reads too slow and dry.

Perfect if you are studying the period.

[Tom Fordham]

This was a heavy skim book. I was apprehensive going in as after reading The English Resistance I was aware of Rex's rambling, reptative and assumptive style. This is billed a successor to The English Resistance aimed at correcting the errors of the previous book and delving more into Hereward himself. However, I found myself going in circles and getting confused from Rex's rambling writing. It felt like he had a page quota and was bulking stuff out, he didn't need so many pages speculating on a supposed parentage. I wanted to know more about Herward's campaign but it felt like I was rereading The English Resistance. Its a shame beceause this book could have been 100 pages and been more cohesive. Frustratingly it seems to be the only accessible book on Herward that I could find, so I'll keep hold of it for reference, but I wasn't overly engaged with this but I can see how it could be a potential starting point for the post-Conquest history.

[G. Lawrence]

A good read, although I did think as reading it that the author presumed the reader had background knowledge of the Norman conquest. Probably best to read 1066 by the same author first to gain the background knowledge required. There was a fair bit of recycling from 1066 to this book as well; phrases I found familiar kept popping up, because I'd read them in his other work. That being said, however, this is a good, well-researched book on this shadowy man of myth, which tries to sort the fantasy from the reality.

[Tim]

You’ll need to know the story of Hereward and the history of the period of the Norman invasion to get much from this book, as the author dives directly into academic analysis of Hereward’s life and relationships. No attempt at a narrative or even a summary of the life of Hereward is given except and this book is more academic paper than biography.

[Soph]

An unruly monograph that would have been half the length if it was less repetitious.

[Jason Wilson]

Brief but a good summary of the relevant evidence

[Caitlin]

I picked up this book from the library because it looked like it might cover a section of history The Wake, a book which has caught my eye but seems a bit daunting, covers. I'm still not entirely sure if a strong link is there, but it was still informative to read.

The book itself came across as well researched, but being someone who'd never heard of this historic figure before, I can't really tell much. The chapters are well organised, in pretty much chronological order.

One thing I wish this book did have, was a summary at the beginning of what the Hereward legend is. As previously stated, being someone who doesn't really know anything about it, I felt a little out of my depth in the book until I picked up enough. Certainly I would have enjoyed it more with such an introduction.

[Sonya]

This was an interesting, yet difficult read. The author was definitely writing this toward the scholarly audience. He was very particular about proving the "real" history about Hereward and disproving some of the myths that surround him. Hereward has been made part legend/part history, so tracing back the facts about him can be quite difficult. I think the author argued his points well but went in to such detail backing his theories up, that the story sometimes got lost in the details. A respectable work from the historian's point of view.

[Paula Lofting]

I really enjoyed reading this book about the 'true' Hereward and not the one of legend. It's main theme broaches the subject of Hereward's parentage which has been largely regarded over the centuries as being Leofric and Lady Godiva of the naked horse ride fame. Peter Rex examines the evidence that he has researched and comes up with a new plausible possibility for Hereward's parentage.

[Rob Roy]

Highly detailed and for those interested in this obscure period, fascinating. One of my favorite novels as about Hereward the Wake, and now I know a bit of the history behind that novel.