The Norman Achievement (Great Civilizations Series)

Title: The Norman Achievement

Author: Richard Cassidy

Format: Hardcover Book, No. Pages: 480

Publisher: Sidgwick & Jackson - Great Civilizations Series, ISBN: 0283993901, Year: 1986

In this work of breathtaking scope, Richard Cassady chronicles the history of the Normans in Europe, from the establishment of the Norman dynasty in Southern Italy and the Conquest of England by William in the eleventh century to the death of Richard the Lionheart and, in the south, the takeover of Italy by the German Emperor Henry VI at the end of the twelfth century.

As entertaining as it is academically sound, the work has been researched with infinite care and is written with a concern that the reader should fall in love with the subject to a depth exceeded only by the author. Richard Cassady has been extraordinarily successful in his attempt to present a vivid and intriguing picture of Norman Europe.

The Norman Achievement, the latest book in Sidgwick and Jackson's Great Civilizations Series, has as its source and inspiration the places in which they lived and worshipped, and is lavishly illustrated with photographs and drawings of the castles, cathedrals and landscapes we can see today. But the author takes us far beyond this narrow field. Art, music, sport, festivals, cookery, legal wrangles and, importantly, the characters of the monarchs, their families and some of their more prominent subjects ... nothing has been neglected in providing a vast, rich and rewarding portrait of a mighty power.