William The Conqueror

Product Description

A new biography of the Norman king who conquered England in 1066 changing the course of the country forever. Of Franco-Scandinavian descent through his father Duke Robert the Magnificent William the Conquerors life is set against his true background the turbulent Norman Duchy which even after the Conquest of England remained his primary concern. William is revealed as the brutal & violent product of his time much given to outbursts of rage capable of great cruelty autocratic avaricious & prone to a sort of grisly humour yet with all that he could also be a loyal friend & affectionate husband & father. His military reputation rests mainly on his victory at Hastings & he showed little sign of strategic or tactical genius. He was a competent rather than inspired general benefiting from the mistakes & disunity of his foes. Only at Hastings did he meet & defeat a man who was his peer as a leader of men. He inspired great loyalty in some & even greater hatred in others. His primary attribute was his ruthless will which made him the driving force behind Norman ambition in North Western Europe. His propagandists shamelessly manipulated the facts to justify his conquest of England a dubious enterprise if ever there was one.