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The Conquest of England
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- GenresHistory
318 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1966
About the author
Eric Linklater
159 books25 followersEric Robert Russell Linklater was a Welsh-born Scottish writer of novels and short stories, military history, and travel books. For The Wind on the Moon, a children's fantasy novel, he won the 1944 Carnegie Medal from the Library Association for the year's best children's book by a British subject.
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
January 13, 2014
I should not even put this on my "read" shelf, as I gave up just 5 chapters in. The book was like drinking facts, names and places from a fire hose. This is not a narrative, but a compilation of begats and a list of conquests. To think what Bill Bryson could have done with this information!
April 11, 2026
This is a book about the Conquest of England, with the operating definition of conquest being that once one has taken an area one keeps it and rules it for a given time. This very thorough book has one major flaw, though, which is a lack of decent maps; and a book that covers all England, from the Orkneys and Shetlands to the English Channel needs maps. I did enjoy this book, though one really needs a scorecard to keep track of everyone.
The Northmen, starting in the eighth century, would either plunder the English coasts and up the major rivers, or plunder the Continent and up the major rivers, or they would settle in selected areas (namely, the Northern Islands of England, the Danelaw in northeastern England, and Normandy on the Continent. Various Saxon kings ruled at this time in England, from the ninth century on, but mostly ruled by personal rule; the major Saxon king was Alfred the Great in the late ninth century, but they all battled the Northmen. From the early eleventh century there were three Danish kings, followed by the Saxon Edward the Confessor, who died childless in 1066. The claimant for the throne was Harold Godwinson, who was not related to Edward the Confessor. The King of Norway, Harold Hardrada, who claimed the throne, and who was assisted by Tostig, the brother of Harold Godwinson, was defeated by Harold Godwinson at the Battle of Stamford Bridge; Harold Godwinson then went south and fought the Battle of Hastings with the forces of William, Duke of Normandy, which he lost. William the Conqueror thus became King of England, but had to fight battles for the next twenty years to hold his throne. The Norman Blood still exists nearly a thousand years later, as King Charles II is the twenty-fifth or twenty-sixth great-grandson of William the Conqueror. This book describes all of the battles involved by Saxon and other forces against the Norse, and all of the battles of 1066 and afterwards; in an Epilogue, the author describes why the Norse did not conquer North America (too far from their bases in Norway and Iceland) and why the Normans could not hold on to Sicily (they became too assimilated, and outnumbered by non-Normans).
This was a great book to read, but the lack of adequate maps is why I cannot rate this book as highly as I otherwise would.
The Northmen, starting in the eighth century, would either plunder the English coasts and up the major rivers, or plunder the Continent and up the major rivers, or they would settle in selected areas (namely, the Northern Islands of England, the Danelaw in northeastern England, and Normandy on the Continent. Various Saxon kings ruled at this time in England, from the ninth century on, but mostly ruled by personal rule; the major Saxon king was Alfred the Great in the late ninth century, but they all battled the Northmen. From the early eleventh century there were three Danish kings, followed by the Saxon Edward the Confessor, who died childless in 1066. The claimant for the throne was Harold Godwinson, who was not related to Edward the Confessor. The King of Norway, Harold Hardrada, who claimed the throne, and who was assisted by Tostig, the brother of Harold Godwinson, was defeated by Harold Godwinson at the Battle of Stamford Bridge; Harold Godwinson then went south and fought the Battle of Hastings with the forces of William, Duke of Normandy, which he lost. William the Conqueror thus became King of England, but had to fight battles for the next twenty years to hold his throne. The Norman Blood still exists nearly a thousand years later, as King Charles II is the twenty-fifth or twenty-sixth great-grandson of William the Conqueror. This book describes all of the battles involved by Saxon and other forces against the Norse, and all of the battles of 1066 and afterwards; in an Epilogue, the author describes why the Norse did not conquer North America (too far from their bases in Norway and Iceland) and why the Normans could not hold on to Sicily (they became too assimilated, and outnumbered by non-Normans).
This was a great book to read, but the lack of adequate maps is why I cannot rate this book as highly as I otherwise would.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews