The last invasion of England was perpetrated 900 years ago by the Normans. They settled, they worked hard, they tried to integrate and fit in, they tried to share their wisdom and experience with the locals. They failed. The English did what they do best. They ignored the funny cooking smells, the unfamiliar clothes and peculiar accents and set about the long, slow, arduous task of turning the invaders into Englishmen. It took centuries of course, but it worked. ‘Norman’ is no longer a name redolent of invasion and locking up one’s daughters: it is a quintessentially English first name.
