The Legend of Hereward: A Novel of Norman England, 1063-1071 AD [Hardcover]

Mike Ripley (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 1, 2007

When truth and legend conflict, which becomes history? - England, AD 1066. When William the Conqueror turns his eye on wealthy English monasteries, the abbey of Ely finds itself an unlikely champion in the brave but unpredictable Hereward, whose resistance to the Norman invaders soon leads to murder, deceit, robbery, rebellion and finally open war... A century later, a learned monk discovers the truth about Hereward as well as the legend. ..

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

This solid historical from Ripley, best known for his Angel crime series (Angel's Share, etc.), chronicles the exploits of Hereward the Wake, an 11th-century rebel against the Norman rulers of England. The story alternates between the narrative of Gerald of Wales, a 13th-century monk commissioned to write the family history of a nobleman who may be related to Hereward, and an account of Hereward's life by Thomas of Ely, a 12th-century churchman. Gerald comments on the historicity of Thomas's work, which traces Hereward's rise from obscurity to legend as a sort of Robin Hood figure. Swashbuckler fans will appreciate the tales of Hereward's ambushes of William the Conqueror's men. Readers who may wonder why Gerald devotes so much space to assessing the reliability of Thomas's text will be rewarded in the end. (Apr.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

About the Author

Mike Ripley is the author of 16 novels, including the Angel series which have twice won the Crime Writers' Last Laugh Award for comedy. He was the co-editor of the legendary Fresh Blood anthologies, a scriptwriter for BBC TVs Lovejoy and served as the Daily Telegraph's crime fiction critic for ten years. He currently writes a monthly crime column for the Birmingham Post.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 262 pages
• Publisher: Severn House Publishers (June 1, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 072786503X
• ISBN-13: 978-0727865038
• Product Dimensions: 8.7 x 5.8 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.1 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,280,155 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars The Legend of Hereward by Mike Ripley, August 30, 2007

By 

Terry Weiss "Mystery Lover" (Corvallis, OR U.S.A.) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Legend of Hereward: A Novel of Norman England, 1063-1071 AD (Hardcover)

I'm a big Ripley fan, have bought his "Angel" books for years, and thoroughly enjoyed his Boudica historical fiction book - I also am an English history buff. However, this book - which I bought for $28.00 when it first came out, rather than wait for a reduced price - was very disappointing. Hereward is simply a nasty piece of work. Ripley writes the true Hereward story (or well-imagined Hereward story) competently, but it's almost impossible to get past the problem that a story starring a nasty piece of work, with no redeeming qualities, is hard to get into. Hereward is a legend in England, much embellished over the centuries, and I believe that Mike Ripley has a done a great job of writing and researching and the writing is entertaining, don't get me wrong. I wanted to like it, I tried to like it, but I just couldn't like it. I found myself putting it down constantly and looking around for something else to read.

I love Ripley's new bent toward historical writing, and look forward to more of it - but hopefully he'll pick someone a touch easier to stomach than Hereward and his not very merry band!