Product Description

This book provides a full introduction to the Norman Conquest, an event which resulted in dramatic changes to the nation's aristocracy, church and administration. It brought a new language and cultural influences and revolutionised military architecture with the introduction of the castle. This profound impact was not brought about as the result of a single battle and it took a five-year war for William to establish control over his new kingdom. The campaigns are studied in detail, with maps showing how William's energy and strategic intelligence enabled him to defeat his formidable opponents and create a new order.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #393229 in Books
• Published on: 2001-11-25
• Released on: 2001-11-25
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 96 pages

From the Publisher
This unique series studies every major war in history looking at all the aspects of war, from how it felt to be a soldier to the lasting impact of the conflict on the world around it.

About the Author
Matthew Bennett is a Senior Lecturer at the Royal Military Academy at Sandhurst and a specialist in medieval military history.

Customer Reviews

Good Summary of the Norman Campaigns In England
This book is a short, crisp summary of the events leading up to the Norman Conquest and the campaigns King William had to undertake to hold onto England.

The book is written in roughly chronological order starting with the bid for the English crown. The invasion and Battle of Hastings are given a brief treatment. This is followed by the various campaigns from 1066 until 1080. The last chapter covers the changes the Norman Conquest brought to England. Interspersed are short biographies of interesting people surrounding the campaigns.

Nice introduction, typical of the series
As usual for this series, the book is well illustrated, and main points are spelled out clearly and succinctly. If you're a novice to the Norman campaigns, start with this work. Otherwise, I might suggest another Osprey book, "The Normans", which is considerably more comprehensive than this one, and is hardbound.

The only drawback to this series is Osprey's insistence on a uniformity of layout (such as picking one military biography, one civilian), which can cramp the presentation of the material, particulalry given how short it is.

But I must confess I often buy Osprey titles more for the illustrations than the writing!