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1066, year of destiny
Book by Wise, Terence
232 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1979
About the author
Terence Wise
62 books3 followersTerence Wise has been a respected historical writer for more than 25 years. He passed away in August 2010.
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
June 25, 2019
obviously not as advanced compared to what I've read previously... but Wise offers some feasible theories.
May 1, 2015
If you are on a detail-gathering quest about 1066, this is a very useful book for research. If you're looking for more historical information, I would recommend going elsewhere. It struck me that Terence Wise was obliged to put in the historical part so that he could get to what really interested him (and me, by the way). He was very certain about how things went, stuck to one story and dismissed opinions that disagreed with him. For instance, as regards the 1064 trip to Normandy: "There is no reason to doubt that Harold's visit to the Norman court in 1064 was a decisive victory in the power game for King Edward, bringing Harold to heel by making him honour the king's nomination of William as Heir to the throne...". And as relates to the crown, "It is clear that Edward had always intended that William of Normandy should be his heir. He had been constant in his aim, and twice stood up to the Godwines to achieve it." I'm really not on board with his opinions, and I grew impatient with his unyielding conclusions.
But as soon as I turned to chapter 2, things got interesting. It seems like his real concern was in the nuts-and-bolts of how Anglo-Saxon England worked. He gave us an explanation of the hierarchy of the society, from earls to thegns to ceorls and freemen. He went on to describe the different military classes (the difference between the housecarls, the butsecarls, and the lithsmen, for instance), how they were armed and paid, different kinds of mercenaries, how the fyrd was configured (select fyrd and the great fyrd; he makes an important distinction which carries over into the Battle of Hastings). He went far into explaining how military service was organized, what kinds of weapons they fought with, how their duty was assessed. Then he did the same thing for the Vikings, and then the Normans. By the time he was through, I had a better understanding of the whole picture.
In his search for precision, more than once Terence gave information I didn't see elsewhere. He described the intricate route Harold marched from London to the hoary apple tree at Caldbec Hill. He was very scientific about the exact slopes on the battlefield at Hastings and the logistical problems both commanders had to face. When William deployed the Breton left wing, "This division had to perform an extremely dangerous manoeuvre, marching across much of the front of the English line, with their unshielded side towards it, in order to take up position on the left or west flank..." I could visualize the problem and the movements. After the battle, he described in detail the circuitous route William took to reach London via Winchester. He even provided a map.
When Terence used history to relate to his logistics, things went very well. For instance, when talking about Stamford Bridge: "The shield-wall...was quite capable of withstanding cavalry attacks, which is why one rarely hears of cavalry actions unless cavalry fought cavalry. Cavalry against infantry was largely ineffective at this time..." And of course, he goes on to explain why. So I must say, I have filled this volume with bookmarks and it has give me much to think about; naturally, it has made the Anglo-Saxon period even more complicated and confusing for me. But he has given us a good bibliography and I have already purchased one of his recommendations, "Anglo-Saxon Military Institutions" by C.Warren Hollister. More on that later!
But as soon as I turned to chapter 2, things got interesting. It seems like his real concern was in the nuts-and-bolts of how Anglo-Saxon England worked. He gave us an explanation of the hierarchy of the society, from earls to thegns to ceorls and freemen. He went on to describe the different military classes (the difference between the housecarls, the butsecarls, and the lithsmen, for instance), how they were armed and paid, different kinds of mercenaries, how the fyrd was configured (select fyrd and the great fyrd; he makes an important distinction which carries over into the Battle of Hastings). He went far into explaining how military service was organized, what kinds of weapons they fought with, how their duty was assessed. Then he did the same thing for the Vikings, and then the Normans. By the time he was through, I had a better understanding of the whole picture.
In his search for precision, more than once Terence gave information I didn't see elsewhere. He described the intricate route Harold marched from London to the hoary apple tree at Caldbec Hill. He was very scientific about the exact slopes on the battlefield at Hastings and the logistical problems both commanders had to face. When William deployed the Breton left wing, "This division had to perform an extremely dangerous manoeuvre, marching across much of the front of the English line, with their unshielded side towards it, in order to take up position on the left or west flank..." I could visualize the problem and the movements. After the battle, he described in detail the circuitous route William took to reach London via Winchester. He even provided a map.
When Terence used history to relate to his logistics, things went very well. For instance, when talking about Stamford Bridge: "The shield-wall...was quite capable of withstanding cavalry attacks, which is why one rarely hears of cavalry actions unless cavalry fought cavalry. Cavalry against infantry was largely ineffective at this time..." And of course, he goes on to explain why. So I must say, I have filled this volume with bookmarks and it has give me much to think about; naturally, it has made the Anglo-Saxon period even more complicated and confusing for me. But he has given us a good bibliography and I have already purchased one of his recommendations, "Anglo-Saxon Military Institutions" by C.Warren Hollister. More on that later!
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews