Bloodfeud: Murder and Revenge in Anglo-Saxon England [Paperback]

Richard Fletcher (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 7, 2004 | ISBN-10: 0195179447 | ISBN-13: 978-0195179446

A treacherous murder in northern England on an early spring day in 1016 is used to introduce readers to the world of the aristocratic men and women of Anglo-Saxon England, their violence, their piety, their assumptions and experiences, their hopes and fears. In this book, award-winning author Richard Fletcher illuminates British society and politics in the years around the Norman Conquest, threading together scanty documentary evidence to produce a rich narrative.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"It would be hard to imagine a better, more reliable introduction to the last days of the Anglo-Saxon world than this stirring book."--Michael Dirda, Washington Post

"A swift and, by necessity, highly speculative account of some murders between 1016 and 1074 that reveal much about 11th-century English politics, religion, codes of honor, and kingship.... A graceful examination of the intricate tapestry of a culture so distant in time and temperament as to be virtually extraterrestrial."--Kirkus Reviews

"Fletcher writes with precision and wit. He has a nose for nuance, a ready supply of pithy phrases, and no time for the jargon that besets so much contemporary academic writing...Bloodfeud dazzles and delights." --Christopher Silvester, Sunday Times

"[Fletcher] enlarges skilfully on the historical context in which all the events took place and artfully on their other dimensions, taking the opportunity at the same time to expound his views on...apprehension of the millennium and the quality of the Anglo-Saxon taxation system." --Simon Keynes, The Spectator

"An excellent book." --Frank McLynn, Literary Review

About the Author

Richard Fletcher recently retired from the University of York where he was Professor of History. He is the author seven previous books, among them The Quest for El Cid which won the Wolfson Literary Award and the Los Angeles Times Book Award for History.

Product Details

• Paperback: 264 pages
• Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA (October 7, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0195179447
• ISBN-13: 978-0195179446
• Product Dimensions: 7.8 x 5.3 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,338,312 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

17 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Top Anglo-Saxon History for Non-Specialists, August 21, 2003

By 

John C. Hocking (Ann Arbor, MI United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Bloodfeud: Murder and Revenge in Anglo-Saxon England (Hardcover)

Fletcher takes a fascinating incident from a fascinating period and expands on it to depict an entire age, and in the process produces what is probably the single best book on this period for the layman. Most texts on this brutal, vital, mesmerizing era are magically drained of life by academic writers with pens full of dust. Fletcher is scholarly and meticulous, yet also readable, even compelling.
If more history were written like this, more history would be read.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Brilliant, February 27, 2006

By 

Jeff Janoda - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Bloodfeud: Murder and Revenge in Anglo-Saxon England (Hardcover)

Fletcher's 'Bloodfeud' is a little keyhole through which we can look clearly at the world of eleventh century England. Moderns tend to view all people of the past as the same as they, in funny clothes, perhaps a trifle more violent, and with poor table manners, all of this informed more by Hollywood than by research. We have so little real, hard information about these times, and almost no record of what these people thought. Fletcher begins with one recorded event--a brutal, politically motivated murder-- and using that as his focus, examines how Anglo Saxon culture worked. He ties together dozens of hints and suggestions from the fragmented records of the time, cross referencing brilliantly, showing where the power was, how it worked, how men and women strove to be masters of their world, and along the way revealing the true nature of these people. A fascinating and truly original work, and one of my favourite books.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars "Life is full of quarrels as an egg is full of meat", June 23, 2007

By 

Douglas E. Libert "howitt" (parkersburg wv) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Bloodfeud: Murder and Revenge in Anglo-Saxon England (Paperback)

the cycles of murder and revenge in the Anglo-Saxon period didn't seem any different than the same in continental Europe at the same time,after all at this period it is families vying for power and advantage.there are no powerful nation-states since the breakup of the Roman Empire and even in Rome there was always the same violence within the empire as families sought out advantage.Like the american old west gunfights were never the romanticized "showdown" at high noon,but overwhelming ambushes delivered with maximum surprise and force,much like the anglo-saxon feuds in this book.Did this chaotic feuding make the anglo-saxon/viking culture more susceptible to be taken over by a more organized power such as the Normans.Like 2 dogs fighting over a bone growling at each other then a third comes in and takes it from both.From reading this book i got the feeling that the feud was a thing in itself beyond any idea of trying to cooperate between the anglo-saxons/vikings and make a nation-state.This is one of the few books i've read where the Scottish king Macbeth is given some time.I wondered after reading the book if Macbeth's murder of Duncan might have been a relic from an old feud of times past. Maybe Macbeth besides being greedy for Duncan's throne,was settling an old score.That could have been even more of a coercian than his nagging wife.Maybe Shakespeare missed something.