I am not a proper historian and all the posts here have been inspired by the brilliant books and websites below. If you have enjoyed this site and want to do more reading, these are a very good place to start.
Note that these are not the ONLY books and websites that I have used when writing posts, but they are the main ones. You will find a few other, mostly information websites, liked from the individual posts.
Books:
Legal history
An Introduction to English Legal History by J H Baker.
This book is one of the original inspirations for this blog. I studied it for the law history part of my Law Degree, and it helped develop what was to become a lifelong interest in the history of law.
Hugely authoratative, it is a bit hard going at times, but has been an essential resource for me. However if you are not a lawyer you will probably find the general history books an easier read.
You can buy it on Amazon here
General History
England under the Norman and Angevin Kings by Robert Bartlett
This books covers the period 1075 to 1225. Unfortunately I only bought it after I had done most of my Norman posts, but it has been extremely helpful with the Angevin period.
It is a very well written and interesting history and social history of the time. Highly recommended, if you want a general history book for the period.
I have enjoyed reading it.
Biography
Henry I King of England and Duke of Normandy – by Judith A Green
This was the first new book I bought for research for this blog (I already had Baker), as I became interested in the life of Henry I.
I did not find it as readable as some of the other biographies I have since bought, but it was interesting and shone a great light n the life of Henry. I feel I know him now.
I did a review of the book >> here.
It can be bought online at Amazon here.
Henry II by W L Warren
This is a marvellous book and I have found it very readable.
It is part of a series called ‘Yale English Monarchs’ and if they are all as good as this one, I will be buying a few more.
It has been enormous help to me as he goes into quite a lot of detail about government and the legal developments in Henry’s reign. It is a pretty large book though – the paperback is some 2 inches thick!
Warren also did a biography of Henry I so that is another choice if you want to read up on him.
Eleanor Of Aquitaine: By the Wrath of God, Queen of England by Alison Weir
This is the sort of biography many people buy and read for pleasure (Alison Weir is a very respected biographer) and it is great for getting the atmosphere.
Eleanor was the wife of Henry II and they had a stormy relationship (as seen in the film The Lion In Winter (1968)
Highly recommended if you just want to dip into the period.
