History of the Conquest of England by the Normans: Its Causes, and Its Consequences, in England, Scotland, Ireland, and on the Continent

This work by Augustin Thierry (1795-1856) on the Norman conquest of England was first published in French in 1825, the two-volume translation into English following in 1847. Thierry employed a relatively new technique in historiography, as he consulted only original texts and documents, and insisted upon interpreting the sources in as much detail as possible. He was adamant that the events, ideas and political positions he chronicled should be interpreted in their own terms and not subjected to a limited nineteenth-century perspective. In Volume 2, Thierry widens his scope, and while his main focus continues to be on England in the period 1137 to 1196, he also considers the consequences of the Norman Conquest on Scotland, Wales, Ireland and France. The volume contains a number of fascinating appendices, ranging from the correspondence of Thomas Becket to a popular ballad telling of the birth of Robin Hood.