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University of California Press, Berkeley, Published 1964. Hardcover, xii, 476 pp; 24 cm; First Edition (the inaugural volume in the English Monarchs series); illustrated with a black-and-white frontispiece from the Bayeux Tapestry, two maps, and genealogical tables.
In Very Good condition with a Good dust jacket. Black cloth-covered boards with a maroon block at the top of the spine and gilt lettering reading "William the Conqueror" and "David C. Douglas"; "California" lettered in gilt at the spine foot. Mild shelf and edge wear. Binding tight; pages clean and unmarked. Dust jacket pale green with a Bayeux Tapestry illustration of William the Conqueror enthroned printed in maroon on a black-barred ground; not price-clipped at $9.50. Several small nicks and tears with light creasing to the edges; mild overall shelf wear with some toning and color loss to the paper over the front cover and along the spine. Now in an archival quality (removable) Brodart cover.David C. Douglas's biography of William the Conqueror, the inaugural volume of the University of California Press English Monarchs series. Douglas (1898-1982), Fellow of the British Academy and Emeritus Professor of History at the University of Bristol, brings French and English contemporary sources into closer relation, basing the study on a thorough reassessment of the original evidence and seeking to disentangle the eleventh century from later political and ecclesiastical polemic. The book is both an analysis of Anglo-Norman history and a biography of a man whose personal career was spectacular, structured in four parts: The Young Duke, The Duke in His Duchy, The Establishment of the Anglo-Norman Kingdom, and The King in His Kingdom.Contents: Abbreviations; Preface; Prologue; Part I, The Young Duke (Birth and Inheritance; Accession and Minority 1035-1047; The War for Survival 1047-1060); Part II, The Duke in His Duchy (The Duke and the New Aristocracy; The Ecclesiastical Revival; The Rule of Duke William); Part III, The Establishment of the Anglo-Norman Kingdom (Normandy and England 1035-1065; The Conquest of England January 1066-March 1067; The Defence of the Anglo-Norman Kingdom March 1067-November 1085); Part IV, The King in His Kingdom (Willelmus Rex; The Feudal Polity; The Royal Administration; The King in the Church; The End of the Reign Christmas 1085 - 9 September 1087); Epilogue; Appendices A-F; Select Chart Pedigrees; Select Bibliography; Schedule of Selected Dates; Index; Maps.