This is quite a fascinating study of the effects of memory and memorializing an event such as the Norman Conquest of England in 1066. Taking as her point of departure Raphael Samuel’s statement that “history is not the prerogative of the historian.... It is rather a social form of knowledge; the work, in any given instance, of a thousand different hands” [1], Siobhan Brownlie displays the myriad ways in which this event has been remembered and reconstructed. Using a “Memory Studies” perspective, she looks at the event as a “memory site” upon which numerous interpretations or readings have been placed. These range from near contemporary Anglo-Saxon and Anglo-Norman chronicles, which not surprisingly have somewhat different perspectives (e.g., the overall view of Harold Godwinson vs. William the Conqueror), the Bayeux Tapestry, nineteenth-century novels, modern historical studies, documentary and fictional films, television dramas, online surveys, and references in contemporary newspapers.

Variously perceived as a British, English, or French (and/or Norman) event, with positive, negative, or neutral affect, we learn there is no one single monolithic view of the Conquest. Whether Harold was indeed the last “Anglo-Saxon” king, to what extent William’s invasion was justified due to Harold’s reneging on his oath to support William’s succession to King Edward, and even the circumstances surrounding Harold’s death (e.g., whether or not an arrow was shot into his eye) are all contested.

Well produced, with illustrations from the Bayeux Tapestry, modern cartoons and photos, tables showing attitudinal surveys from British newspapers, appendices elaborating on the medieval and modern perspectives discussed in the text, a helpful bibliography and index, the book is an excellent analysis of how myth and memory interrelate. As Brownlie points out in her concluding chapter, the study of distant memory and intercultural relations could be used to shed light on the Israel-Palestine conflict or Northern Ireland. Furthermore, modern views of the Conquest may shed light on contemporary Franco-British relations as well as negative attitudes towards foreigners in Britain. The Norman Conquest effectively becomes a palimpsest upon which one can superimpose other events from history, ethnicity (e.g., Saxon vs. Norman) and even class distinctions (low-born vs. aristocratic).

[1] R. Samuel, Theatres of Memory: Past and Present in Contemporary Culture, Vol. 1 (London, 1994), p. 8, cited in Brownlie, p. vii.

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[Review length: 376 words • Review posted on January 29, 2014]