Last English King, the [Hardcover]

Julian Rathbone (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 4, 1997

Walt, the last of King Harold's bodyguard, the one who survived Hastings, wanders across Asia Minor with Quint, an intellectual renegade monk. On the way, he unfolds the events which led to the battle which was to effect the destinies of every English man and woman.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Though better known for his political thrillers, British writer Rathbone is also the author of several mainstream novels, two of which (Joseph and King Fisher Lives) were shortlisted for the Booker Prize. This richly detailed historical novel tells the story of the great Norman-Saxon battle of Hastings in 1066, as remembered by Walt Edwinson, or the Wanderer, one of King Harold Godwinson's bodyguards. Battle scarred and numb, Walt is plagued with guilt for merely losing his hand and not his life when Harold is killed at Hastings. Instead of returning to the wife and child who desperately need him in Norman-ruled England, Walt condemns himself to wander, since his desire to live and return to his wife and home are what caused him to fail his King. In Byzantium, Walt encounters a traveling ex-monk and scholar, Quint ("nothing more, nothing less"), and together they embark on a vividly described journey through the medieval eastern end of the Mediterranean. Quint's impressive knowledge of religion and philosophy and his anachronistic grasp of the tenets of modern psychology help fill in the blanks of the story that Walt recounts: of the reign of King Edward, the ascent of William the Bastard and King Harold and the historic battle for the throne of England. The story suggests that Walt at last finds redemption through the retelling, despite the novel's tragic ending (revealed in the book's first chapter), but Walt's friendship with Quint also provides important consolation. Rathbone takes considerable historical liberties, writing in contemporary vernacular modern prose and painting King Edward as a man more interested in Harold's fetching brother Tostig than in the sister, whom he is slated to marry. However, Rathbone defends his decisions convincingly in an author's note, and his narrative presents an interesting interpretation of a tumultuous period in English history. (Nov.)
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Library Journal

For over 25 years, Rathbone has been producing political thrillers and was nominated for the Booker Prize twice. In his new novel, he takes us to England at a time when "the civilization of the English reached its zenithAit turned its back on the savagery of war and embraced hedonistic willingness to live as well as one can." After losing his honor and his hands at the Battle of Hastings in 1066 while attempting to defend King Harold II of England against the invader, William of Normandy, Walt sets out on a personal pilgrimage across Europe. Joined in his self-imposed exile by Quint, a renegade, apostate monk, he tells his story of politics, intrigue, and battle as seen through the eyes of a king's bodyguard. Rathbone's spare style aptly expresses the horror of war and its aftermath. Anachronisms abound in this work and were deliberately included by the author. Some readers may be amused; others will find them a distraction. For larger historical fiction collections.AJane Baird, Anchorage Municipal Libs., AK
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 356 pages
• Publisher: Abacus (December 4, 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0316641391
• ISBN-13: 978-0316641395
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.4 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.5 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (21 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #6,722,778 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

15 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars The Last English King: Bayeux re-woven in Words, November 24, 1999

By 

Steve Charitan - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Last English King (Hardcover)

Author Julian Rathbone immediately introduces Walt, a likable character who will not only serve as guide through his 11th Century world but also acts as a participant in one of its most significant events - the Battle of Hastings. While this reader often finds books that ignore linear chronology in telling their story annoying, here the technique works quite well. We meet Walt, once guardsman to the late King Harold II shortly after the decisive battle. Injured, defeated, guiltridden, he trudges across Europe in search of either oblivion or expiation. The angst Walt carries around makes him accessible to a modern reader, but he is never made to seem either offensively anachronistic or unduly gloomy.

In brief, but compelling narrative the author recreates the sensation of traveling through the countryside in what was still, effectively, the Dark Ages. When he reaches the outskirts of the Byzantine Empire and then Constantinople itself, Rathbone cleverly sums up the wonders of the city through Walt's literally stunned reaction to a religious service he witnesses in the Hagia Sofia.

During the course of his journey, Walt encounters Quint, a quirky, nomadic character with an inquisitive nature. As he and Walt take to the road together, Quint begins to question his companion about his former life. It is in these discussions that the author sets up the social milieu in which the battle will ultimately take place. The two travelers are then, in effect, left "on the road" and Rathbone takes up the tale from the early years of Edward the Confessor's reign, focusing on his interactions with the powerful Godwin family as well as the King's relationships with his mother and his lover.

This is as far as I've gotten, and while it may seem strange to write a review before actually finishing the book, I feel that it has been such a fascinating read up to this point that I can't imagine being disappointed by what will follow. The non-linear chronology allows Rathbone to simultaneously spin multiple strands of the story thus keeping interest high on many levels: the battle itself, the perils of 10th Century travel, the tensions between Norman and English, King Edward and the Godwins, Walt and Quint, Walt and Harold Godwin. The narrative is so rich, I could continue on in this strain. Anyone appreciating historical fiction that shows a strong respect for the facts on which it was based will thoroughly enjoy this book.

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Enthralling and dramatic, May 17, 2000

By 

Julian C Green - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Last English King (Hardcover)

I bought this book at Stansted Airport hoping to pass a few otherwise boring hours of travel. I didn't realise how enthralled I was to become, not just in the plot but in the whole scene of pre-Norman England. Certainly Julian Rathbone's presentation brings the rather stilted characters depicted on the Bayeux Tapestry to life as flesh and blood. It has also aroused in me (an Englishman in exile living in Spain surrounded by Scots!) a definite patriotism as well as an interest to read further into the history of the period. (I romantically like to think of my own ancestors linking shields to protect the last truly English king). Certainly the parallelism with our own end of Millennium 'threat' from across the Channel was not lost on me. The wide (but not pretentiously used I think) vocabulary made this interesting as literature.

On the minus side: The anachronisms (depsite the plea of the author in his foreword) do sometimes grate. And I think he possibly has some religious axe to grind.

13 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Imaginative, but disappointing, November 8, 2000

By 

J. Creamer (Perpignan France) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Last English King (Hardcover)

The basic proposition of this book is interesting and imaginative in following the reflections of a survivor from Harold's housecarls after Hastings. But, ultimately, I just found the rendering impossible to believe and rather irritating. I understand the desire to de-mystify history, but this should not mean a cavalier assumption that the 11th century was pretty much like now except people fought with swords and had bad table manners. The characters are way too modern in their language, emotions, and attitudes and the story's atmosphere suffers for it. The author displays a chronic inability to write set pieces such that climactic events are usually rendered with dull explanations and narratives rather than with action. Consequently, the book contains numerous mind-numbing stretches. The author's greatest attentions seem given to sex scenes (straight, gay, incestuous...you get the picture). I have no objection to 'sex in literature', but it should serve some purpose in driving the story forward. In sum, the book represents a good idea weakly executed.