This omnibus volume is made up of John Julius Norwich's first two works of history published 20 years ago - "The Normans in the South" and "The Kingdom in the Sun". The books tell the story of the dazzling Norman kingdom of Sicily founded in the 11th century by an enterprising band of adventurers from Normandy under Robert Guiscard. The state they founded was outstanding in medieval civilization.
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30 of 31 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
The Norman Conquest. That's what you'll discover in John Julius Norwich's landmark work on the Normans in Sicily. Not the Battle of Hastings, but the Battle of Messina several years earlier. This is medieval history at its best, more exciting than any historical novel. Beginning with the ninth century Saracen Arab rule of Sicily, then Europe's most important island, Norwich takes us through the unprecedented conquest of Sicily by northern European knights errant who soon became warrior kings, ushering into European civilization a new era of multicultural fusion. This is an objective, timeless definitive work, still as fresh today as it was when these chapters were written forty years ago. It seems strange to say so about a historical book, but once you start reading this one, you won't be able to stop.
28 of 29 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
Norwich is a storyteller as much as he is a historian. He resembles Barbara Tuchman -- you might not base a doctoral thesis on his work, but he certaily provides a great read. In many ways, this work is superior to his Byzantium trilogy. This may be because he has bitten off a more managable slice of history. This allows Norwich to go deeper on the main personalities and events he is covering. You really come a way with a feeling for this remarkable adventure of the Normans in Southern Italy and the advanced and powerful state they were able to create. It also highlights thier impact on the crusades, Byzantium, and the broader struggle between the Pope and secular power. I really enjoyed this book -- so much so that I travelled to Sicily to visit some of the many amazing artifacts left behind by this underdocumented "other conquest" of the Normans.
16 of 16 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
This excellent volume combines 2 books by the highly readable Viscount Norwich. His history of the Normans in south Italy and Sicily in the 10th and 11th centuries fills a gap in our knowledge of these fascinating mercenaries who-would-be-kings and rings true even today with the impact of Europeans on the Arab world and vice-versa. Remember, the Normans (of Norman Conquest of England fame) were the descendants of Viking raiders who settled in France and their military prowess against the Byzantine Empire and conquests in Italy were just as important as their better known invasion and conquest of England and Ireland in the same centuries.
Most Recent Customer Reviews
4.0 out of 5 stars
Nasty, brutish and tall
Nasty, brutish and tall--that was the Normans. They were the original "men who came to dinner" but in their case, thugs who came to dinner fits better. Read more
Published 10 months ago by carlos quernes
4.0 out of 5 stars
good history
This is a good work of history. The author takes a dauntingly complicated subject (Southern Italy and Sicily during the Norman era) and creates a workable interesting narrative. Read more
Published 18 months ago by Mark bennett
5.0 out of 5 stars
An investigation into the central role played by the Kingdom of Sicily...
The prospect of reading a 750-page tome on the history of Sicily between 1016 and 1194 would probably seem inviting only to the most masochistic of history buffs. Read more
Published on August 25, 2006 by D. Cloyce Smith
5.0 out of 5 stars
The Other Normans
Dull and daunting as this title might seem for the general reader, this is actually a facinating and important episode in European history. Read more
Published on February 28, 2006 by Andrew Daly
5.0 out of 5 stars
A sweep through Sicilian medieval shenanigans
This is one of the best layman's books about any conquest. Norwich is unputownable history at its best. Read more
Published on October 18, 2005 by dvill
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