Ebook: Hereward

An investigation into the historical figure of Hereward the Wake, who led the last resistance movement against the Normans in Britain. The book seeks to remove the layers of fiction and myth that have built up and examines the historical evidence about him.

The name of Hereward 'the Wake' is one that strikes a chord in most people’s memories, as does the year AD 1066. They may recall from school history lessons that he was the patriot who resisted the Norman invaders after the battle of Hastings and, thereby, salved some Saxon pride in a chapter of otherwise unmitigated gloom and disaster. From this episode, it has been argued, stems the outlaw myth that spawned Robin Hood and other guerrilla fighters resisting oppressive overlords. Beyond that, they will probably recall little and this is unsurprising since apart from a name there is nothing tangible upon which to reconstruct a biography.