Review by Choice Review
Carpenter (King's College, Univ. of London) has produced a thorough work on a tumultuous era in British history beginning with the Norman Conquest and ending with the English conquest of Wales. A recent trend in British history has been to focus on the Isles as a whole instead of primarily on England, with Scotland, Ireland, and Wales in the background. However, the policies, problems, and actions of the English monarchy had great repercussions for England's neighbors, and are necessarily emphasized. Carpenter has written a chronological narrative history that usefully analyzes economic and social issues, political developments, and the motivations of monarchs. He also delves into such issues as the conditions of minorities and economic developments, resulting in a nuanced and highly informative study. Besides several useful maps and genealogical tables, there are bibliographical essays that are informative in their own right. Carpenter uses them to explain what the primary sources can tell us, while offering a brief commentary of the secondary sources used. This accessible, scholarly work is a valuable addition to those done by Hugh Kearney, R.R. Davies, and Robin Frame, and offers much of value to beginning researchers as well as to more experienced scholars. ^BSumming Up: Highly recommended. Upper-division undergraduates and above. D. M. Hall Lake Erie College
Copyright American Library Association, used with permission.
Review by Choice Review
