King Harold Godwineson is one of history's shadowy figures, known mainly for his defeat and death at the Battle of Hastings. His true status and achievements have been overshadowed by the events of October 1066 and by the bias imposed by the Norman victory. In truth, he deserves to be recalled as one of the greatest rulers. Harold: The Last Anglo-Saxon King sets out to correct this distorted image by presenting Harold's life in its proper context, offering the first full-length critical study of his career in the years leading up to 1066. Ian Walker's carefully researched critique allows the reader to realistically assess the lives of both Harold and his rival William, significantly enhancing our knowledge of both.

Reprint of the original, first published in 1874.

This gripping historical novel brings to life the story of Harold Godwinson, the last crowned Anglo-Saxon king of England. Harold's rise to power, from a member of a prominent family with ties to Cnut the Great to a powerful earl, is chronicled in vivid detail. When King Edward the Confessor dies without an heir, the Witenagemot chooses Harold to succeed him, making him the first English monarch to be crowned in Westminster Abbey.

An authoritative life of Edward the Confessor, the monarch whose death sparked the invasion of 1066 One of the last kings of Anglo-Saxon England, Edward the Confessor regained the throne for the House of Wessex and is the only English monarch to have been canonized. Often cast as a reluctant ruler, easily manipulated by his in-laws, he has been blamed for causing the invasion of 1066—the last successful conquest of England by a foreign power. Tom Licence navigates the contemporary webs of political deceit to present a strikingly different Edward. He was a compassionate man and conscientious ruler, whose reign marked an interval of peace and prosperity between periods of strife. More than any monarch before, he exploited the mystique of royalty to capture the hearts of his subjects. This compelling biography provides a much-needed reassessment of Edward’s reign—calling into doubt the legitimacy of his successors and rewriting the ending of Anglo-Saxon England.

A major re-examination of an important period in British history

Now available in paperback, this is a rich and compelling account of the life of King Harald Hardrada of Norway, one of the greatest Viking warriors to have ever lived.