Description

Edward Augustus Freeman (1823-1892) was Regius Professor of Modern History at Oxford, and one of the pre-eminent historians of his generation. Politics was a constant interest for Freeman, who was also a regular contributor to the Saturday Review. While he wrote on a variety of historical topics, from ancient Greece to the German Federation, and had a great interest in architecture, this six-volume work, published between 1867 and 1879, was his magnum opus. Freeman reconsiders how the history of the Conquest is understood and examines its causes and results, beginning with the Anglo-Saxon conquest of England, and how the following centuries set the scene for the arrival of the Normans in 1066. He examines the Conquest itself, and the reigns of William I, William II, Henry I and Stephen, to assess the degree of change in life and culture experienced by the English during this period.