A history deep-divers delight! Spencer's excellent narrative raised to the power of Kindle-enabled search made the read a two-week real-time history lesson. It's super value for money. Spencer's scholarship and references are the highlights. Loved it!
I plan biz itineraries around historical time slices. I've frankly mostly missed this period in my walkabouts. One reason is that so few landmarks and references exist. For me, one glaring example was referenced here, Rhuddlan Castle. I had a biz reason to be in Rhyl, Wales. As I understood, the castle is attributed as a 'second-class' construct in Edward I castle terms. I'm Edward I castle era toured out. So, I skipped the Rhuddlan Castle visit. Spencer reveals my mistake. It was a stronghold player in the Angevin era and was "rebuilt" by Edward I. Another 'for instance', Westminster palace is wholly gone. The White Tower, which most believe survives from the Conqueror, was extensively modified over the ages. Only the chapel remains original. The Roman walls on which it was built a thousand years before seem more extraordinary.
The Kindle searching rabbit trails drive deeper into Angevin Europe. Definitely a fresh spin on French and English history about to diverge dramatically. Perhaps it's that France even survived is the highlight. It turns Spencer's history into a modern travelogue. Spencer has provided a new itinerary for the history tourista ... I have mine sketched out. But, unlike far more ancient sites, finding the Brit, Norman, and common French past is daunting. Only shadow exists to evidence the whole. With the limited extant shreds of evidence and worse, no story at all for 99% of those who dwelt, I've decided that the Dark Age term pretty much sums it up.
Does one wonder why the White Ship era comes to us so faintly? Henry I's tenuous rise to power and succession failure seems singularly the most important event for the everyman and a far worse social upheaval than the Norman conquest. The Anarchy that followed plunged the island into a fresh mini-Dark Age every bit as grim as theologian-biased Pagan tales of circa 600-750 (though more recent archaeology suggests otherwise). The Great Anarchy comparatively, socially, geographically, and politically seems to dwarf the earlier Viking era's effects on the island's trajectory. The times are so stark and forbidding, that perhaps it was best forgotten from collective memory, expunged. Better to imagine the Plantagenets and forget the Anarchy of the Angevins?
Spencer's handful of voices wrote of kings. Spencer puts real meat on the contemporary's skeleton. Spencer uses the original era place names ... so many changed over the next 100 years that zooming in precisely to the times and places reveals yet another layer to the tale.
Made me rethink assumptions.
P.s. Buyer reviews influence my buying decisions. I know I rely on them, particularly in the deep-diving history genre. If my review is helpful, please click helpful and let me know. It's reviewer feedback that improves the quality of reviews.
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Popular Highlights in this book
The Battle of Hastings was fought on 14 October 1066, just nineteen days after Stamford Bridge.Highlighted by 170 Kindle readers- Allowing Clito his freedom would be a decision that Henry would come to rue as one of the worst of his life.Highlighted by 164 Kindle readers
- Henry’s father, William the Conqueror, was the most celebrated Norman of them all.Highlighted by 124 Kindle readers
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Reviews with images
Well paced narrative of early 12th century England.
This is a well crafted narrative of English political history from 1087 to 1154. An overarching theme is the fragility of dynastic succession. The story is told in three parts: 1. How a combination of mortality and ineptitude threatened the legacy of King William I to the point where it fell to his fourth son to hold the English crown for the Norman dynasty. 2. How Henry I, after experiencing the worst effects of familial power struggles, contented himself with one legitimate son and heir to the English throne. How the death of that son threw Henry’s succession plans into turmoil. 3. How the resulting Anarchy (1138-1154) nearly destroyed England. While its principals were Henry’s daughter, Empress Matilda and his nephew, Stephen of Blois; In reality, this was every Lord for himself. When all was settled, the Norman dynasty was over, and the Plantagenet dynasty under king Henry II was born.This book reads like a novel, it is not bogged down with academic verbiage. The book has two helpful maps; although a family tree would have been helpful. I suggest printing one out on line and keeping it as a reference.
Top reviews from other countries
T Tennyson
That time when Christ and His Saints slept...
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on August 27, 2023Pratheek Maddhi Reddy
Just an amazing book for anyone even remotely interested in history!
Reviewed in India on August 2, 2021