The Battle of Hastings (Ed. Stephen Morillo for Boydell) A handy-dandy primer, or Bluffer's Guide, on this important battle that aims to provide you with a good range of sources, opinions and room for thought from a new series edited by Matthew Bennett (of Society-of-Ancients and annoying Robert Hardy fame). Armed with this wee paperback any of you can jag your knowledge up to top levels without having been left with only one side of the argument. But as most if not all of the pieces are reprints you completists may encounter duplication. The five sources are William of Poitiers' Gesta Willelmi, William of Jumieges' Gesta Normannorum Ducum, three of the Anglo-Saxon Chronicles, Florence of Worcester, the Carmen de Hastingae Proelio, and the Bayeux Tapestry. These are, of course, only extracts but very valuable for all that. The Interpretations section is split into three categories: The Armies, The Campaigns and the Battle. Richard Abels and Marjorie Chibnall give their views on (respectively) bookland and fyrd obligation and on pre-Conquest Norman military obligation. The Campaigns section has a splendid piece by John Gillingham on the style of war under William that analyses matters clearly with supporting evidence. A so-so piece of historical accounting to establish the logistics for the invasion piece. Finally the Grainges give an excellent summary of the naval strategies that both sides pursued within the confines of Channel shipping conditions. The Battle section has David Hume's original account, E.A.Freeman's pro-Saxon account, J.F.C. Fuller from Decisive Battles, Richard Glover's English Cavalry interpretation, Bernard Bachrach on the feigned retreat, R. Allen Brown going pro-Norman and Stephen Morillo sweeping up. Morillo's theory is that the standard of both sides was very high and he notes how many unusual features the battle had (length for one thing). Remarkable value. More Book Corner: The Origins of War in Early Modern Europe The Battle of Hastings Infantry Warfare in the Early 14th Century The Anglo-Dutch Wars of the 17th Century Black Sea The Bayonets of the Republic European Warfare 1660-1815 The Austro-Prussian War Warfare Under Anglo-Norman Kings Empress Matilda -and- The Reign of Stephen Prince Eugene of Savoy The Medieval Archer The First World War: Germany and Austro-Hungary 1914-1918 Pallas Armata titles Back to Perfidious Albion #94 Table of Contents Back to Perfidious Albion List of Issues Back to MagWeb Master Magazine List © Copyright 1997 by Charles and Teresa Vasey. This article appears in MagWeb (Magazine Web) on the Internet World Wide Web. Other military history articles and gaming articles are available at http://www.magweb.com