Searching for the Norman Conquest

A vivid narrative history across a 1,000-mile journey on foot, Searching for the Norman Conquest opens a window onto the English cultural landscape of the eleventh century.

What was the eleventh-century Domesday Book? It is now is one of the most significant historical documents from medieval England, providing a fascinating window onto the economic and socio-cultural landscape of England at the time. In the eleventh century, it was an in-depth survey commissioned by William the Conqueror, who tasked his surveyors with the job of visiting every shire in England to record the land and resources and, consequently, the potential tax revenues available to the king.

Max Adams applies his brilliance as an historian to retread the path taken in 1085 by William I's agents, taking us on foot through the very sites covered and bringing us face to face with its legacy. This sparkling narrative evokes eleventh century England through contemporary eyes with the original account as his guide. Bringing together archaeology, contemporary chronicles, and historical geography, Adams fleshes out the landscapes of a thousand years ago, peopling them with real actors: lords, slaves, millers, priests, and burgesses who yielded their taxes and labor to their new Norman lords.

Our understanding of the Norman Conquest, the most dramatic social and political event in English history, is framed by the propagandist narratives of its victors. Above all, it is told in the landscape. The tale is filled with action: kings die; warlords hunt, fight, and swear oaths on holy relics, strap on armor, dash across land and sea to fight for glory and the ultimate prize of the English throne.