Rating: 
Summary: Good intro, but speculative
Review: Howarth tells an interesting story well. He gives context and explanations, and writes well. Why only three stars then? Because too often he speculates, or follows uncritically late sources. In one example he cites a story discrediting an English character. The story occurs only in one late and tendentious Norman source. After acknowledging its inherent implausibility, and the unreliability of the Norman source ... he goes on to modify the story (900 years ex post facto) and accept the new version!
Rating: 
Summary: A remarkable survey
Review: Christmas saw the coronation of Harold, the last anglo-saxon king of England. The following Christmas William the Bastard was crowned in the same spot, and England was in chains. The amazing events of that momentous year are vividly described in this fine account. Two invasions in one year, the first crushed against all odds, leaving the Viking fleet in ruins--forced march back to the south and the disaster at Hastings--all distilled from at least six primary sources and told in under 150 pages. A contemporary masterpiece of popular history.
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Summary: Good 'Ol Fashioned Narrative
Review: I really liked this book. I read this book before viewing the battlefield for the third time in my life. Its a good introduction to the battle. If you are headed for England on a holiday and hope to visit Battle Abbey or be in the general area, it is a good authorative source on the events leading up to the battle, especially the battle of Stanstead Bridge where Harold defeated a Scandanavian Army before turning and force marching his army to the South. Ironically it may have been this event that sealed his eventual fate. Williams warriors were relatively fresh, Harold's were tired from this tremendous military feat. Nevertheless they gave good account of themselves and the battle was held in the balance for a long time. I do not think that there is anything wrong with allowing intellectual baises free riegn in historical works of this sort; the author, and ourselves, freely synpathise with the Anglo underdogs. In that sense it is no different from other historical events. The reviewer from Paris below, sees this as some kind of justification for genocide. Howarth's writing can never, and never have been the justification for the subjugation of others. It could never be with the democratic tradition that the is country gave the rest of the world. It set the standard that any other country has yet to eclipse. That the Englishness created by the absorbtion of Norman Blood created a new England if a statement of fact. Just as new immigrants create new and ever changing countries, this first conquest of new immigrants contributed to a new and higher form of nation. We have both the Normans and the Saxons to thank. A very good read of a genre less than 200 pages. Oh but more books were written with such breath, verve and conciseness.
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Summary: It was so good
Review: It was good. The words were so delicious, that after I read the book Iate it. It was good. I liked it.
Rating:
Summary: I Liked It
Review: I liked it. It was good. I liked it very much. It was very good. I liked it very, very much. It ws very very good, indeed. Must read.
Rating: 
Summary: Review of 1066
Review: Very good setting of the environmental context of this key moment in history. Author is not afraid to add his speculation about human behaviors when little is known for sure. But, this is not military history, and the author has a clear pro-English leaning
Rating:
Summary: I couldn't put it down.
Review: Sure, it's presumptuous to inject feelings, motives, and thoughts into the facts of history. You don't have to agree with David Howarth's telling, but it sure is an engaging read and let's you thrust yourself into the minds of William and Harold. Howarth ties the events of 1066 together into a neat package that's easy to follow and fascinating. I couldn't put this book down, and now my husband's having the same problem!
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Summary: Great read on this topic
Review: I was pleasantly surprised by this book. Howarth paints a compelling picture of the events of 1066. The running discussion of why the central players behaved as they did is facinating and well supported. In particular you get a real sense for just what a gamble William was taking by putting his troops and horses on ships for England as well as an interesting perspective on the underlying cause of his ultimate victory. And while Howarth may suffer a bit from the English over-fondness for a idealize Saxon past, he doies present a believable picture of what 11th century England was like. He tells the story extremely well. So much so that even though everyone knows how it ended, he keeps you reading eagerly right to the end. A good, interesting (and fun) read.
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Summary: An intersting and entertaining read, but...
Review: In writing this book, the author claims to have used as his source the some 20 existing "contemporary" sources (dating from shortly after the invasion until a century or so afterwards) in piecing together what he feels is a fair account of this pivotal year in English history. He makes it very clear that this is no simple task when taking into consideration the style and bias of his sources, and therefore the story is by no means the complete account that we expect from historical works dealing with more recent events. So unfortunately, by no fault of the author, we have but a fragmentary account of the events of 1066. But--not being all that familiar with this time period--as much as the author has attempted to not "fill in the gaps" with his own fanciful theories and assumptions, it is difficult to not believe that there are times when he may have embellished things a tad. All in all, though, 1066: The Year of the Conquest is an enjoyable book, and an excellent starting point for those who want to understand a little more about this period in English history.
Rating:
Summary: Engaging book on precarious year in English history
Review: To put it simply, Howarth's book "1066, The Year of the Conquest" is a biased, factually-based, historical account of the year 1066 in England, encompassing both the plights of the royals AND the common people of the island, along with the English's neighbors to the south and east. If you are looking for the play-by-play of the Battle of Hastings and William the Conqueror's reign in England, you've come to the wrong book, my friend.
Howarth examines just that profound year in English history, and does not go in full detail about what happened before or after 1066. Like other reviewers, I did notice Howarth's unabashed bias to the English in this work, but his non-objective feelings don't overwhelm the text. A jovial example is that not once, is the Norman king referred to as "William the Conqueror;" in fact, he is introduced to the reader as "William the Bastard."
That aside, I had a splendid time reading this short work (only 200 pages). Howarth's writing style keeps the reader engrossed and he has a gift of turning the historical facts into a readable and impassioned story. One thing I really liked was the absence of footnotes. In the text, Howarth will cite the text he is using, what biases it may have, and how accurate it might be with regards to first-person accounts, years after 1066 it was written, etc. This citation style works extremely well in the text and I wish more authors would use it. The best part of the book might be the first chapter where Howarth chooses a random village and takes a Howard Zinn approach at it by explaining what the common folk did at that time, what they ate, where they lived, etc. It really gives a reader a better understanding of the Middle Ages, after all, not everyone got to live in a castle. Another nice feature of the book is the friendly maps. Although there are only six maps, they are easy to read, they include all the places Howarth is writing about, and show the routes of the invasions. I would recommend this to any casual history reader or to anyone who has viewed the Bayeux Tapestry. Instead of trying to decipher the pictures of the tapestry, by reading this book you will get the full story and it will make it easier in seeing what the tapestry is trying to depict.
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