The Norman Conquest: A Very Short Introduction

Thought-provoking, provocative (Garnett begins by drawing explicit parallels between the Norman Conquest and modern-day attempts at "regime change"), and emphatically not a good fit for the "Very Short Introduction" series. There's no way I could assign this to a class of American first year college students most of whom have never heard of Hastings or 1066 (which was why I was checking it out) without them being rather bewildered. Garnett presumes a certain familiarity with English history, and even with at least the vague outlines of bigger historiographical disputes about the Conquest and its aftermath. The Harrying of the North, for instance, barely gets a look in.

The broad sweep of Garnett's argument—about the all-encompassing show more and successful nature of the Norman Conquest of England—would make for stimulating fodder for an upper-level undergrad discussion, but only if careful attention was paid to the ways in which Garnett avoids or glosses over some evidence which doesn't bolster his argument. It's possible that the abbreviated VSI format meant that he didn't have the space to address these issues, or to deal more overtly with opposing academic points of view, but they are frustrating lapses nonetheless. An engaging book, but flawed. show less

This book begins with a relation of the Battle of Hastings and the issues surrounding it, and then goes into a detailed discussion of the legal issues surrounding the changes in tenure and landholding, followed by a look at changes in architecture and ecclesiastical organisation. It lacks, however, any section on the methods by which the Normans completed and consolidated their conquest of England after Hastings, which is frustrating.