Trevor Rowley

For most readers, I suspect that this will provide them with as much about the Norman adventure in history as they really want to know. That said, I really picked up this book to learn about the Normans in Italy and Sicily, and it would appear that J.J. Norwich's works on that topic are still the "go to" choices to read. Also, I come away with a question I've never had before, as to what the real sources of Norman military efficiency were, considering how a pack of Viking raiders apparently show more managed to turn themselves into some of the most efficient cavalry troops in Europe, besides being masters of fortification. show less

Very academic, with many details that this layperson did not necessarily want or need. I do not recommend this book for the casual reader -- unless you want to delve into measurements of land tracts, the laws re. royal forests, agriculture, economics, and other details that perhaps only a grad student would welcome. I found myself skimming the second half of the book.

Having said that, the book did contain a lot of good information -- including some history of Wales -- and I do have a better show more understanding now of the changes brought by the Norman invasion. show less

If you’re looking to read a brief introduction to the deserted villages of England then this is the book for you. In fact I’d go further and say that if you are looking to read any book with exactly 72 pages but you’re not too bothered what it’s about then you could do far worse than this.

What you have here is a potted history of the deserted village, an account of their archeology and instructions on how to find them yourself. It’s particularly well illustrated, sometimes with show more ground plans and aerial photography of the same sites, though I might wish for the ground plans to have been better labelled.

What surprised me was the sheer number of them and the map dates from 1977 so there must be far more in the books now. There are quite a few near me so I think I’ll go and take a look when the weather improves. show less