Jacob Abbott’s biography of William the Conqueror traces the career of the illegitimate son of a Norman duke who became the most consequential military and political figure of the eleventh century. Abbott follows William from his precarious childhood in Normandy through his consolidation of ducal power, his disputed claim to the English throne, the invasion and Battle of Hastings in 1066, and the systematic Norman reorganisation of English society and government.
Written in Abbott’s clear, accessible style for a popular readership, the book is an excellent introduction to William and the Norman Conquest — one of the defining moments of medieval European history.