Originally published in 1983, The Norman Heritage looks at the Norman Conquest as a turning point in English history. The book argues that not only was this the last time that England was successfully invaded, but it followed a complete change in the ruling dynasty, the introduction of military feudalism, the reform of the church and the rapid spread of monasticism. The book suggests that such social and political changes were accompanied by dramatic architectural and topographical developments. Frenzied building activity resulted in the construction of cathedrals, churches, monasteries and castles and stone was used on a scale unknown since the end of the Roman Empire. The Norman desire to exercise regional political control and to simulate trade resulted in a rash of newly planned towns across the country. In many more subtle ways, Anglo-Saxon landscape was altered and modified by Norman coercion and influence. Through their energy and administrative ability, the Normans transformed the face of town and country alike, and this book traces the impact of the Norman Conquest upon the British scene, through both a historical narrative, surviving structural remains of buildings and the patterns of settlements, communications and land use that developed during this period.

Used hdbk. Third Printing pub. 1990. No DJ. Hunter green cover with gilded lettering in Very Good condition. Spine tight, pages clean /unmarked. Book was purchased & shelved w/out use. Sturdy boards and quality paper. Very very very minor rub at spine top. Ships USPS media mail w/Tracking # provided. Int'l buyers contact seller to confirm shipping details PRIOR to purchase. CL-1132018-4

Bound in the publisher's original cloth with the spine stamped in gilt.

Bound in the publisher's original cloth with the spine stamped in gilt.

In a little over a century, between 1830 and 1939, both the landscape and society of Britain were a rural world became an urban (and suburban) world. The pace and scale of change a vast surge in population was housed in cities and towns, while the countryside became stagnant and neglected. Industry and trade demanded communication and transport on an unparalleled scale, and a network of railways spread into almost every corner of the British Isles. Technology was applied not on a local and limited scale, as in earlier centuries, but in every facet of life. Motor cars, radio and cinema, new and better means of waging war-were all part of this technological transformation of what had been a predominantly traditional society. By 1939, Britain had won and then lost the industrial supremacy of the world; the colonial empire gained over the same period was shortly to go the same way.