1066: The Year of the Conquest Book

David Howarth is another historian I would invite over to dinner every Sunday night if he lived nearby and weren't already dead. I doubt he'd find me as delightful as I find him, but I'd try. Even if you have no interest in the Norman Conquest, this book is so enchantingly and clearly written that you'll think you've stumbled into a particularly good novel about those zany folk in medieval England and France. Even better, Howarth was an accomplished sailor, so he can offer educated speculation about the logistics of crossing the English Channel in various vessels - with war horses! - at various points, which doesn't sound super exciting but is when he writes about it. My favorite aspect of his writing style is his matter of fact tone: he says, "Here's what one original source says, here's what this other original source says, here's why they're both suspect, and, for what it's worth, here's what I think probably happened." It's quality, in-depth scholarship for people with short attention spans. I almost drew little hearts in the margins.