SEARCHING FOR THE NORMAN CONQUEST

A walking tour of history, with blisters.

Historian Adams reveals the devastation—social, economic, political, and human—wrought by the Normans during the invasion of 1066 and the reign of William the Conqueror (William I). His primary tool is the Domesday Book (1086-7), a vast, multivolume assessment of England’s wealth from acreage and earls to water mills and villeins, compiled by William’s agents as they traveled through England. Adams combines Domesday’s information with additional research and his experience following in the agents’ footsteps to reveal and reflect on the human impact of the conquest. The final walking chapter is based on the Boldon Book (1183), a similar project to Domesday completed for the bishops of Durham. Adams’ chapters each explore a theme and place, such as industry in Worcestershire and Staffordshire. The book convincingly reconstructs what happened where and the traumatic impact on the Anglo-Saxons. It includes women, some of them from the Domesday Book. Although the case for landscape as archaeological tool is convincing—as he writes, “The English landscape is its own source book”—the book unfortunately does not validate the attendant claim that “the script of this deeply layered history can only be read at walking pace.” Nor is the author’s experience integrated into the larger endeavor; rather, Adams’ “I” dominates. Consequently, the book often reads like an erudite guide to the walking paths of England or an autobiography rather than a history enriched with the author’s experience. Reinforcing the author’s centrality, the book provides many helpful maps of his routes and a detailed methods section but no glossary.

A fascinating but flawed project to connect people, place, and experience across a vast chronological distance.