William the Conqueror: The Norman Impact Upon England (English Monarchs) [Paperback]

David C. Douglas (Author)

Book Description

Series: English Monarchs | Publication Date: May 1, 1967

In William the Conqueror, Professor Douglas analyzes the causes and the true character of the Norman impact upon England in the eleventh century. The work is both a study of Anglo-Norman history and a biography of a man whose personal career was spectacular, and as reviewers have remarked, it is distinguished by a wealth of scholarship linked to a lucid and agreeable style.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Douglas' William the Conqueror possesses the real and elusive quality of greatness. . . . Its originality will surely become the orthodoxy of the next generation." -- Speculum

Product Details

• Paperback: 488 pages
• Publisher: University of California Press (May 1, 1967)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0520003500
• ISBN-13: 978-0520003507
• Product Dimensions: 8 x 5.4 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (15 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #120,512 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

67 of 68 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Exemplary scholarship, July 12, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: William the Conqueror: The Norman Impact Upon England (English Monarchs) (Paperback)

There is history written in the popular mode, and there is history written in the scholarly mode. David Howarth's "1066" is a fine example of the former--- wrong on many small details, but engaging, thought-provoking in its conjectural recreations of the personalities of men long dead. But Howarth's book suffers from some of the inherent bias of popular history: it pleads the case of the oppressed Saxons and fancifully fleshes out those things for which we lack concrete evidence, often to support the author's own overarching vision of these events.

David C. Douglas is not a prejudicial dilettante. He is one of those hard-nosed, dust-covered, meticulous, and magnificent English historians with the fortitude and knowledge to plumb countless ancient charters and other such arcana in pursuit of fact; in the hall of modern historians, he is in the brilliant company of A.L. Poole, R.W. Southern, Frank M. Stenton, K.B. McFarlane, and other such greats. His book on William is not a character study but a series of tautly-woven analyses of evidence. The problems and contradictions of these limited materials are discussed in the text, in the footnotes, in the copious appendices; and only once a myriad of possible readings of a given event has been mentioned (and referenced, should the reader wish to seek a cogent explication of a contrary thesis) does Douglas offer his own view of the matter.

This book is dense, difficult, slow, and laborious, but its interest is truth, understanding, and genuine illumination: it is not a flight of fancy but a History. People like this preserve the human past for the good of the human present and future. It is to the slow and patient scholar that we owe so much of what we actually know.

The rest of Douglas' oeuvre is out of print. How sad this is for the state of our knowledge on these subjects! Read Howarth and other practitioners of "popular history," that lesser art, for enjoyment, or for an imaginative return to the sights and smells of a lost time. But buy and read this book, and those like it, to be elevated to a greater state of understanding. "William the Conqueror" is a masterpiece.

30 of 30 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Douglas the Best, May 22, 2000

By 

Daniel Lengyel - See all my reviews

This review is from: William the Conqueror: The Norman Impact Upon England (English Monarchs) (Paperback)

If you are interested in the Norman history or in the Norman impact upon England or just simply in a very exciting ruler of the eleventh century, this is a must read. The book depicts the complex and vivid life of the eleventh century through the life of one of the greatest monarchs of the eleventh century. I was especially interested in the first two sections of the book: The Young Duke and The Duke in his Duchy. In this chapters you can feel the pulse of the life of this era. It is a very well researched book. Whenever you feel that there is a gap in the story it is instantly filled by the excellent footnotes or by the appendixes. Every question of mine, which were raised out of my mind reading the book, were answered within few pages. The excellent description of the battles is another adventage of the book. Anyway you can say thousands of words boasting this book but you had better read it. It is a real MASTERPIECE with real capital letters.

23 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars VERY INTERESTING AND WELL-ORGANIZED, April 24, 2000

By 

STEPHEN MATTOX - See all my reviews

This review is from: William the Conqueror: The Norman Impact Upon England (English Monarchs) (Paperback)

This book is organized into 4 sections: The Young Duke, The Duke in his Duchy, The Establishment of the Anglo-Norman Kingdom, and The King in his Kingdom. This framework is perfectly logical and helps bring understanding to the life of William the Conqueror, one of the pivotal figures of the past 1000 years. Going into this book I knew about the Battle of Hastings and the Domesday Book; I also knew a little about the struggles between Anglo-Saxons and Normans after the conquest. But I knew nothing about the subject matter of the book's first two sections. Douglas does a terrific job of providing historical context to William's career. He explains the Viking origins of Normandy, and it's relations with the Viking kingdoms, England, France, and the Vatican. These all prove to be vital relations throughout William's life. What surprised me is how much turmoil William endured within Normandy itself, not only during his rise to power, but even after the conquest and until his death. These turmoils include his illegitimate birth, constantly shifting alliances, and the rebellion of his son. I knew of his military prowess, but his political abilities sustained him as much as anything, and Douglas does a good job of illuminating these abilities, particularly during that critical period immediately following the conquest, when Norman institutions were put into effect in England. The book explains not just the Norman influence on England, but the sort of reciprocal relationship that came to exist between kingdom and duchy. The sections of the book concerning battles are very well done, and provide good details on the tactics, strategies, and terrains. The book has the usual appendices of family trees (which help immensely when trying to understand some of the political landscape). It also has a couple of interesting essays in the appendices, my favorite of which is intriguingly titled, "On poisoning as a method of political action in eleventh-century Normandy." In the end, I came away highly impressed with both the accomplishments of William the Conqueror, and the manner in which David Douglas conveyed them.