Though 1066 is perhaps the one date in history known to the whole English-speaking world, the immense significance of the Normans and what they achieved is far less widely understood.
In The Normans And Their World Jack Lindsay presents a picture of the Normans ‘in the round’; he describes not only the Norman Conquest and its effects on England, but explores the Viking past of the Normans (who were largely of Danish origin) and their conquests in Southern Italy and Sicily, as well as in England.
By taking this broad view, Lindsay turns the story of the Normans into one that is also about the origins of Europe.
He identifies the special characteristics that enabled the the West to transform itself into a new kind of society and so create the modern world.
He traces the deep conflicts inside the disintegrating tribal communities, with stress on the way in which men struggled to find both a personal identity and a place in their society through their relation to king, lord, kindred, village (and later town), until the development of the nation in the 16th century resolved many of the medieval issues.
The core of this book lies in the detailed examination of just what the Normans contributed to the England that was built up by the 14th century, and just why the conflicts which the Conquest brought about, and their ultimate overcoming, had such a powerful and fruitful result.
Jack Lindsay (1900-90) was the son of a well-known Australian artist, Norman Lindsay. He took first class honours in Latin and Greek at Queensland University, and came to England in 1926, where he worked as a translator, editor and novelist. He is the author of ‘Helen of Troy’, ‘Leisure and pleasure in Roman Egypt’, ‘Last days with Cleopatra’ and ‘The Ancient World’.
Endeavour Press is the UK’s leading independent publisher of digital books.
Description:
Though 1066 is perhaps the one date in history known to the whole English-speaking world, the immense significance of the Normans and what they achieved is far less widely understood.
In The Normans And Their World Jack Lindsay presents a picture of the Normans ‘in the round’; he describes not only the Norman Conquest and its effects on England, but explores the Viking past of the Normans (who were largely of Danish origin) and their conquests in Southern Italy and Sicily, as well as in England.
By taking this broad view, Lindsay turns the story of the Normans into one that is also about the origins of Europe.
He identifies the special characteristics that enabled the the West to transform itself into a new kind of society and so create the modern world.
He traces the deep conflicts inside the disintegrating tribal communities, with stress on the way in which men struggled to find both a personal identity and a place in their society through their relation to king, lord, kindred, village (and later town), until the development of the nation in the 16th century resolved many of the medieval issues.
The core of this book lies in the detailed examination of just what the Normans contributed to the England that was built up by the 14th century, and just why the conflicts which the Conquest brought about, and their ultimate overcoming, had such a powerful and fruitful result.
Jack Lindsay (1900-90) was the son of a well-known Australian artist, Norman Lindsay. He took first class honours in Latin and Greek at Queensland University, and came to England in 1926, where he worked as a translator, editor and novelist. He is the author of ‘Helen of Troy’, ‘Leisure and pleasure in Roman Egypt’, ‘Last days with Cleopatra’ and ‘The Ancient World’.
Endeavour Press is the UK’s leading independent publisher of digital books.