This book covers a lot of information on the subject of the Normans and is well researched. The author gives a lot of her sources most that was written around that time. It mentions the Viking Rollo and how the Normans were a mixture of French and Scandanavian people. She covers the battles and the conflicts between people from different territories that I had never heard of. The Normans were considered great fighters and blessed by God. They contributed a lot to the church and are still known for their architecture.

There is way too much to cover in this review. The book is written in a way that would appeal to scholars. It really does what it was meant to do!

Wow—this was something I just couldn’t get into. The intro was promising and then the book swerved into a long and context-free discussion of the source materials for it. Confusing to say the least. Maybe of interest to serious historians, but not to lay readers like me.

PHEW! This book is a doozy. It is chock full of so much research and information, and I appreciated the thoroughness, but I will admit it was hard to read. It took me a very long time to finish it, and by the time I had gotten to the end, I had forgotten much of the beginning. I don't have an issue with long books, but with history, there is a fine line between boring and fascinating, and unfortunately, this just did not draw me in.

Thank you NetGalley and Yale University Press for providing me with this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

In her book The Normans, Judith Green offers the reader a solid, authoritative and original view of the Normans and their world with a particular focus on the eleventh century. Green is an erudite writer and is methodical in her rigorous examination and commentary of the primary sources related to her subject.

The book is a scholarly work presenting in depth analysis of historical narratives, their writers and patrons and their respective agendas, to examine the truth of the accepted view of the Normans as a distinct group of people who were exceptional warriors produced by a well organised society. Green successfully demonstrates that there are many things to consider in reaching conclusions about the Norman’s and that various contributing factors mean that one image of them does not hold true, at all times, and in all places where they ventured. Green’s narrative suggests that in understanding the Normans there is a need to encompass greater contextual information by interrogating other sources such as poems, annals, charters and textiles such as the Bayeux tapestry. She also suggests more may be revealed about the Normans in the future through study of historical DNA, an exciting prospect.

I thoroughly enjoyed the book and found Green’s discourse both educative and a valuable contribution to our understanding of the Norman’s and the medieval world. I would recommend the book to those interested in Medieval History and the Norman’s.

Thank you to NetGalley and Yale University Press for an eARC of this book in exchange for my honest review.

A meticulously researched, thorough and comprehensive history of the Normans, their rise to power and their influence on European history. An enlightening read, if not always as enjoyable as it could be due to the assumed level of previous knowledge on the topic, and the amount of detail provided.

A thoroughly researched, meticulous slog. <i>The Normans</i> sets out to provide a detailed overview of the various Norman-ruled fiefdoms of the 11th and 12th century -- England, Sicily/southern Italy, Antioch, and of course Normandy itself -- in a wide variety of topics ranging from politics to court fashion to the relationship between the Normans and the Church, as well as a recounting of the general history of those Norman lands. And to its credit it is very thorough -- endnote numbers abound, and the actual text of the book ends only 56% of the way through the e-ARC I was reading. The rest is a list of citations and sources; an extraordinary resource for the more academically inclined.

And really, this seems to be a book by an academic, for academics. Your mileage may vary in proportion to how much information you already know about the subject. I probably have more knowledge about 11th and 12th century England and Sicily than most casual readers of history, thanks to a habit of playing as Normans in the Crusader Kings franchise, so I was able to hang, but the assumed knowledge of the reader is a serious issue in this book. The author doesn't seem to have any idea how much detail to go into, and veers wildly between not-enough and too-much., Often, it becomes a weird mixture of both; for example, several minor figures are emphasized as having been relatives or descendants of Edmund Ironside, the importance of which is lost because it never clarifies that Edmund Ironside was King of England (and it's not like he is someone the casual reader can be expected to know). A different character is mentioned, one Robert Bordet, as having possibly been the grandfather of "the Spanish Robert Bordet" -- but who on earth was the Spanish Robert Bordet? (As it turns out, an unimportant Norman knight and minor noble who does not figure anywhere else in the narrative of this book - thanks, Wikipedia!) When describing the events of the first Crusade, Green takes the time to mention the names of the specific gates that certain armies set up camp against during the siege of Antioch. Are we meant to have such detailed knowledge of the geography of Antioch that this would be meaningful? Surely a map could have been useful.

Green is well-stocked with primary sources, which she bafflingly chooses to spend the opening of the book enumerating (a bad first impression), but this is a double-edged sword. Often it feels like Green has a primary source that mentions a particular fact, so she's hell-bent on including it, regardless of whether it is interesting or adds anything to the narrative. As such the reader drowns in minutiae, especially during the sections that most resemble an A-follows-B narrative history. The book is strongest in its second half, when she devotes sections to broader cultural or political subjects, although it stumbles right at the end into further excesses of detail by spending much of a section discussing Norman architecture basically listing out the layouts of churches. Again this would have benefited from visual aids, which the e-ARC I have is missing; some pictures of churches and halls are listed among the table of contents, so I must hope that they aid in understanding. Otherwise, the book ends on a characteristic note - overwhelming the reader with details, and hoping they have the academic background to fill in the context.

I love the Normans. I have been fascinated by them as a group for a pretty long time now. The conquest of England! Randomly being in Sicily! The First Crusades! Occasionally popping up elsewhere!

I also love a good interrogation of sources. And asking new questions, or using new information to contribute to questions already asked.

Therefore, I thoroughly enjoyed this book.

Given the above, I can't say how easy this would be to read for someone with zero knowledge of the Normans. Even I found it hard to follow the Roberts and Rogers and various families (honestly I kind of stopped caring about whether I was completely following who was related to who; it didn't seem to matter in some instances, and Green often reminded me when it did). It should also be noted that there is more historiography than I think is usual for a purely narrative sort of history, so if learning what specific historians (medieval and modern) have said about specific issues is not your cup of tea, you may well find this book a bit annoying. For the rest of us... this is a really great, and thorough, examination of the Normans in the 11th century.

I really liked how Green examined what was going on in Normandy, England, Sicily/Italy and Antioch/the First Crusade as a way of trying to see if there really is something to the very IDEA of 'being a Norman' - which honestly is a brave thing when you're entire book is about 'the Normans' - but that's exactly the point of it. Some people at least claimed the Normans as Very Special People with a Very Special Place in the World (via God or character or whatever else). Is that actually true? Is it even possible to speak of "Normans"? Gosh I love these sorts of questions. I also quite like that Green doesn't entirely come to a complete answer. She has some suggestions - that maybe Normans themselves in the 11th century weren't alway seeing themselves as 'Normans' - and also proposes a whole bunch more avenues for investigation. Which is the other awesome thing that Green does - she's not just using the old Williams of history (Jumieges, Malmesbury, etc), but adding in archaeology and DNA and various other sources to make a way more interesting and complete picture.

Overall, not My First Introduction to Medieval History, but a really great work on a group of people who had a fairly hefty impact on medieval Europe (and beyond).

A thorough work of history. I enjoyed the academic nature of this book, though it might be too academic for some readers. The first chapter focuses on the historiography of the Normans so it will quickly weed out those who have no taste for academic historical writing. Those who make it through (or skip) the first chapter will be fortunate enough to experience a well-researched, well-organized, and entirely thorough examination of the Normans and their history.

A very comprehensive study of the Normans - their origins and their influence on Europe. I really liked that Green included a source introduction chapter. That is not something that I see often and I really appreciated it. It gave a good overview of the sources, where they come from and the bias of each author. I also liked how Green drew on other scholars and was liberal with her citations. It all amounted to a very comprehensive and thorough book.

Thank you to NetGalley and Yale University for an advance copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

As someone whose exposure to Norman history has been mostly confined to broad-ranging survey courses, THE NORMANS was a fascinating read on a people group whose reign had an enormous impact on the trajectory of medieval European history. Green contends that the typical historical narrative that surrounds the Normans is that they enacted an explosive, unalloyed rise to power on the strength of an exceptionally well-organized society and a military of unsurpassed strength. However, she says that such a narrative does not tell the full story, as these features were not unique to the Normans during this time. Instead, Green argues that there are a number of oft-overlooked factors (such as location, the nature of their warfare, the fact that they aligned themselves with the Roman papacy as the western Christian church consolidated religious power, etc.) that historians must consider in telling the Norman story. She further problematizes the idea that there was a single, monolithic ‘Norman world,’ instead exploring the various different factions under Norman rule as well as the diverse societies they encountered.

Green writes engagingly and convincingly in support of her theses, offering a new perspective on an ethnic group whose influence reverberated throughout the medieval world. THE NORMANS would make an excellent addition to many university libraries and is highly recommended.

As I am a major history nerd (especially when it comes to the Normans), I had very high expectations for this book; every expectation was met! This book was engaging, thought-provoking, and definitely provided new insight into people and an era ahat I thought I knew everything there was to know about. High recommend!

My only knowledge of the Normans comes from learning about William the Conqueror and watching some YouTube videos after playing Assassins Creed: Valhalla. So, imagine my surprise when I read this book and learn the Normans basically had a hand in nearly every facet of Medieval life, war, and society. A lot of their influence seems to have come through their activities as mercenaries; their participation in several big wars solidified their influence in the regions they fought in. This book covers some of the geographic areas where their influence was the strongest, like Britain and Sicily, as well as major war campaigns (the first Crusades) and their impact on religion, societal norms, and their relationship with power. Very interesting, though it was written very academically, which did make getting through it a bit difficult at times.

The Normans: Power, Conquest and Culture in 11th Century Europe by Judith A. Green is an excellent nonfiction that delves into the fascinating existence of the Normans mainly during 11th century. I loved this!

We all know the conquest of 1066 involving the Normans, but how much do we really know about the Norman people as a whole? Their beginnings socially, politically, and geographically? Where did they originate and what type of transitions occurred to take them to 1066? This book takes us into all of those questions.

I learned so much about the Normans in general. I know there is only so much that os currently known due to limited archeological evidence in certain areas in what is now France, but with discoveries happening every day, hopefully more pieces will be added to the puzzle for us.

The author does an excellent job at presenting our subject in a straightforward and easy to understand format that made this feel less like a history text and more like a novel.

I really enjoyed this book and highly recommend it.


5/5 stars

Thank you NG and Yale University Press for this wonderful arc and in return I am submitting my unbiased and voluntary review and opinion.

I am posting this review to my GR and Bookbub accounts immediately and will post it to my Amazon, Instagram, and B&N accounts upon publication on 3/22/22.