Battle for the Island Kingdom: England’s Destiny 1000–1066

There’s no need for fictional dragons when the real-life battle for thrones and empires is as thrilling as Hollway’s (The Last Viking: The True Story of King Harald Hardrada) account of England’s history leading up to the Norman Conquest of 1066. Beginning with the ineffectual reign of the Anglo-Saxon king Æthelred—commonly known as the “Unready”—his book depicts the brutal politics of the early medieval era when Vikings and Normans attempted to seize and hold the English crown. Hollway fleshes out a memorable cast of characters, including the Viking king Cnut, the slippery Earl Godwin, and the noblewoman Emma of Normandy, widow of two kings and mother of several more. He also follows the life and early strains of a Norman duke’s son, born out of wedlock, who would go on to conquer England as William I. Illustrating how the schemes and ever-changing alliances of these individuals were as much about survival as ambition, this narrative never lags.