A Brief History of Britain 1066-1485 Audiobook By Nicholas Vincent cover art

A Brief History of Britain 1066-1485

Brief Histories

Preview
LIMITED TIME OFFER

3 months free
Try for $0.00
Offer ends July 31, 2025 at 11:59PM PT.
Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
Premium Plus auto-renews for $14.95/mo after 3 months. Cancel anytime.

A Brief History of Britain 1066-1485

By: Nicholas Vincent
Narrated by: Roger Davis
Try for $0.00

$0.00/mo. after 3 months. Offer ends July 31, 2025 at 11:59PM PT. Cancel anytime.

Buy for $35.82

Buy for $35.82

Confirm purchase
Pay using card ending in
By confirming your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions of Use, License, and Amazon's Privacy Notice. Taxes where applicable.
Cancel

From the Norman Conquest to the Battle of Bosworth Field - how Britain was invaded and became a nation. The first volume in the stunning four-volume Brief History of Britain series. From the Battle of Hastings to the Battle of Bosworth Field, Nicholas Vincent tells the story of how Britain was born. When William, Duke of Normandy, killed King Harold and seized the throne of England, England’s language, culture, politics, and law were transformed.

Over the next 400 years, under royal dynasties that looked principally to France for inspiration and ideas, an English identity was born, based in part upon struggle for control over the other parts of the British Isles (Scotland, Wales, and Ireland), in part upon rivalry with the kings of France. From these struggles emerged English law and an English Parliament, the English language, English humour, and England’s first overseas empires. In this thrilling and accessible account, Nicholas Vincent not only tells the story of the rise and fall of dynasties, but investigates the lives and obsessions of a host of lesser men and women, from archbishops to peasants, and from soldiers to scholars, upon whose enterprise the social and intellectual foundations of Englishness now rest.

This the first book in the four-volume Brief History of Britain which brings together some of the leading historians to tell our nation’s story from the Norman Conquest of 1066 to the present day. Combining the latest research with accessible and entertaining storytelling, it is the ideal introduction for students and general readers.

Nicholas Vincent has published half a dozen books and some fifty academic articles on various aspects of English and European history in the 12th and 13th centuries. He has studied at Oxford, Cambridge, Paris, and Canterbury and now is professor at the University of East Anglia.

©2012 Nicholas Vincent (P)2012 Audible Ltd
Europe Great Britain Medieval England Royalty Middle Ages United Kingdom

Listeners also enjoyed...

A Brief History of Britain 1485-1660 Audiobook By Ronald Hutton cover art
A Brief History of Britain 1485-1660 By: Ronald Hutton
A Brief History of Britain 1660 - 1851 Audiobook By William Gibson cover art
A Brief History of Britain 1660 - 1851 By: William Gibson
The Anglo-Saxons Audiobook By Marc Morris cover art
The Anglo-Saxons By: Marc Morris
Two Houses, Two Kingdoms Audiobook By Catherine Hanley cover art
Two Houses, Two Kingdoms By: Catherine Hanley
The Hundred Years War Audiobook By Desmond Seward cover art
The Hundred Years War By: Desmond Seward
The Time Traveler's Guide to Regency Britain Audiobook By Ian Mortimer cover art
The Time Traveler's Guide to Regency Britain By: Ian Mortimer
A Brief History of Roman Britain Audiobook By Joan P. Alcock cover art
A Brief History of Roman Britain By: Joan P. Alcock
The History of the Ancient World Audiobook By Susan Wise Bauer cover art
The History of the Ancient World By: Susan Wise Bauer
The Time Traveller's Guide to Medieval England Audiobook By Ian Mortimer cover art
The Time Traveller's Guide to Medieval England By: Ian Mortimer
Unruly Audiobook By David Mitchell cover art
Unruly By: David Mitchell
Churchill Audiobook By Andrew Roberts cover art
Churchill By: Andrew Roberts
The End of the Affair Audiobook By Graham Greene cover art
The End of the Affair By: Graham Greene
A Brief History of the Anglo-Saxons Audiobook By Geoffrey Hindley cover art
A Brief History of the Anglo-Saxons By: Geoffrey Hindley
Queens of the Crusades: Eleanor of Aquitaine and her Successors Audiobook By Alison Weir cover art
Queens of the Crusades: Eleanor of Aquitaine and her Successors By: Alison Weir
The Six Wives of Henry VIII Audiobook By Alison Weir cover art
The Six Wives of Henry VIII By: Alison Weir
The Taste of Empire Audiobook By Lizzie Collingham cover art
The Taste of Empire By: Lizzie Collingham
A Brief History of Brief Lives of the English Monarchs Audiobook By Carolly Erickson cover art
A Brief History of Brief Lives of the English Monarchs By: Carolly Erickson
Powers and Thrones Audiobook By Dan Jones cover art
Powers and Thrones By: Dan Jones
The Wars of the Roses Audiobook By Dan Jones cover art
The Wars of the Roses By: Dan Jones
Babylon Audiobook By Paul Kriwaczek cover art
Babylon By: Paul Kriwaczek
Most relevant  
I guess I shouldn't be surprised that there is little depth in this book as it is called A Brief History of Britain but I was disappointed at how little depth there was.

I find the conquest and then subjugation of the Britons and Anglo Saxons by the Normans fascinating - the way british collective personality seemed to develop at this time, the tenacity of the english language and the development of democratic government is so interesting but its not discussed in much depth which was frustrating.

The Wars of the Roses was dealt with very curtly and again this was disappointing.

I recommend this book as a primer - theres so much more to discover if you scratch the surface - this book really doesn't scratch very deeply at all.

Skating over an interesting period of history

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

I'm not from England, but for some reason I'm obsessed with English history. Despite all the books I've read on the subject, there were definitely a few issues that left me confused. This series of books has a different author for each, who specialize in that particular time frame, with the same fantastic narrator.

This book starts with William the Conqueror and the Norman invasion at the Battle of Hastings; it ends with Henry Tudor at the Battle of Bosworth Field, where the sketchy Richard III is killed, thus ending the War of the Roses.

Incredibly well-written and well-read! It is a great story and is never dry or boring. If anything, this made me want to read more English history...

Speaking of, I'm starting part two already... It begins with the Tudors and encompasses the religious and political issues of a newer, more modern England.

My highest recommendation for this book and the whole series.

This is excellent! Very well-done!

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

The writing itself assumes you have already got quite a bit of prior knowledge of British history of the period, and of what's coming next, and it's often matter-of-fact tone doesn't help distinguish the important parts from the asides. Found myself having to research quite a bit on Wikipedia around the subjects. Good narrator however.

Not for beginners

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.