Book Review: "1066 and Before All That" by Ed West

Yes, I've been reading really long history books lately and so, I wanted to try one that wasn't only short, but is described as being very, very short. At only 184 pages, it doesn't really seem long enough to cover the entire history of the country up to the Battle of Hastings, but reader it is. Interesting and often funny, there is a lot too this book that many might feel is underdeveloped or underdone. But the point of this book isn't to make some bold claims and academic insights, instead it is to make the reader think and often, laugh. The oddities of the past are on full display and I can't say there are many interesting books like this one about this particular time in history.

One of the things that was most enjoyable about this book was the approach it took to history. Whilst covering the strange and mixed history of England before the Battle of Hastings, there were more often than not little side jokes either about medicines which would have probably killed you faster if you took them and the weird ways in which the various rulers around Europe would discard their old Gods for Christianity. One of them actually started torturing people until they believed in Jesus - completely and utterly missing the point of the religion by a mile. With huge amounts of Viking invasions of various places on the menu, England is also presented as a country ever-changing and by the time Edward the Confessor is on the throne, Westminster Abbey is ready to be built with over 10% of the country's entire income. That is until it is knocked down again some 200 years' later and rebuilt once more.

The writer presents decisions by certain kings as being somewhat odd and not in the best interests of the country at all - so basically what every businessman and politician in the world is doing right now. In that respect, not much has changed between then and now, but the very nature of peasants being asked to fight on behalf on a monarch they probably didn't know even existed was a bit strange in itself. I mean, they didn't have much of a choice and they definitely wanted some extra money so why not? We get to see the King every now and again on TV so we know who he is. But the peasants probably didn't have a clue. And, atop of that, with the King/Queen basically refusing to visit the North of the country because it was fraught with danger - there was a clear divide between who 'was' and who 'was not' to be reckoned with.

Another thing I enjoyed about this book is the way it looks at the politics of The Battle of Hastings and the way in which Edward the Confessor kind of set it all up to happen, whilst simultaneously having very little to do with it. There were ancient claims to the throne made by Harold Hadraada whilst Edward the Confessor himself made Harold Godwinson his successor despite not liking him very much, but of course it would be William the Conqueror who charged in with his huge ego flinging people out of the way of his throne. The book tells us about how William I opened the justice system in England and so, that's why so many words in law are French, whilst it is also true that French-sounding names are regarded as being more upper-class, rather than the 'lowly' sounding Anglo-Saxon names. Altogether, it is seen that the French seemed to have started off this feudal nature towards ownership of land, some of which has continued through the years. It's both interesting to read and extremely classist to find out. But at least the author makes it funny.

All in all, there's so much to learn about everything from why he was called Ethelred the Unready all the way down to the weird marriage of Edward the Confessor. From Cnut and his sons, their marriages and their concubines all the way to the way in which brothers turned on brothers for power and land. The author has done such a great job of packing so much fun into such a short text - I cannot give it anything less than a top score.