num_pages: 232
description: The focus of this new history is the political and social repercussions of the unification of the English kingdoms under one ruler in the tenth century and the two conquests of the unified kingdom in the eleventh. It provides the only up-to-date, detailed survey of English history between the death of Alfred and that of William.Part of the book's thesis is that tenth- and eleventh-century England shares many of the characteristics of pre-industrial England and its politics: Early England, it is argued, should not be set apart by the tyranny of 1066. The development of an effective system of royal rule is a thread that links the late ninth century to the twelfth; reform and change within the English church was afoot long before the arrival of William the Conqueror and Lanfranc; unification promoted, through the growth of royal power, the beginnings of that long dialogue between centre and locality that is an enduring theme of English history. The period is, in short, not the last phase of a peculiar Anglo-Saxon age, but a stage in English pre-industrial society and monarchial politics.A political narrative forms the first part of the book, with the second devoted to a succession of thematic chapters. New insights are offered on familiar themes, such as noble society, rule and administration, and religious movements, and in less traditional areas - the family and women - entirely fresh ground is covered. At a point when new work and changing interests are rapidly transforming our view of the period, Dr Stafford's account offers a timely and stimulating overview.
language: English
title: Unification and Conquest: A Political and Social History of England in the Tenth and Eleventh Centuries
publisher: Hodder Education Publishers