Everyone who takes English history probably remembers 1066, William of Normandy, the Battle of Hastings, and King Harold; essentially the date, the location and the leaders of the combatant armies. Some may remember that the fight was over the right of succession to the throne of England after the heirless death of King Edward the Confessor. A few may even remember that Edmond Halley's famous comet made an appearance just beforehand, creating great consternation that was immortalized in the Bayeux tapestry. For most, Harold's reign seems almost a foot note, hardly more than an intermission before the main event of the Norman conquest. With William and his successors come castle building, classic knighthood, feudal society, all the "romance" of the middle ages. Harold is so often treated as a cipher to all of this that the true drama of this transitional age is often lost on the student. Harold is just "the loser."

Ian Walker's book brings this period more into focus. He approaches his subject by examining, not only Harold's own life and career, but that of his grandfather and father, creating a sense of the venue for the events of the Conquest. Harold is no longer just "the loser." He is a powerful and intelligent warrior, dealing as often in diplomacy as in bloodshed, able to play the chess game of power politics in a very turbulent time. He was in fact "the last Anglo Saxon king," and his time, like the withdrawal of the elves from Tolkien's Middle Earth, is the end of an era. His predecessor Edward was the last of the line of Alfred the Great, the king who had wielded the tiny Anglo Saxon kingdoms into the one kingdom of England. William and his successors would turn the island into a developing nation state striving for a place in a world among other rising nation states.

I found particularly interesting the author's approach to the period as one of a family biography. Harold was not just a famous figure in history, he was a member of an ambitious extended family. Like the Borgias in a later time and place, Harold's father and his grandfather played major roles in English political life during the years preceding the Conquest, as did he and his brothers in their own time. Walker follows these careers, because it is the net created by their liaisons that defined the period. Pull out any of these lynch pins, and the history of the era would have been vastly different. Interesting too were the careers of Harold's children, who went on to carry the family into succeeding generations of international leaders. I have often wondered what the fates of descendants of famous people have been. What did happen to Cleopatra's surviving children for instance? At least in this instance, more is documented about Harold's children which gives a sense of closure to Walker's book.

Thoroughly enjoyable and informative study.

This is a great book for anyone interested in the mysterious and obscure events of England in the year 1066. Walker does a great job, trying to bring Harold Godwinson to life.

This was an excellent, intense account of a unique king's biography. I read this book to get more info on William the Conqueror, but now I'm obsessed with Harold II. A must-read for history buffs.

Fluent, lucid and written with Plumb's characteristic brevity, this is among the best introductions you will find to the high politics of the Hanoverian period. Sir John Plumb (d.2001) was one of the finest historical writers ever published in English. He is in the tradition of Macaulay and Trevelyan. His prose is polished and perfectly cadenced, and his light style masks a profound analytical grasp of the political forces that shaped this century of Whig ascendancy. Some may accuse him of adhering to the 'Great Men' school of history. If so, he highlights all their vices as well as their virtues.

Plumb was criticised for more often making the grand sweep of historical analysis as opposed to dredging through the minutiae of historical documentation. This analysis, I believe, is flawed and inimical to the notion that for history to be worthy of the name it should be readable for a wider audience, not solely confined to the institutions where it is nurtured.

Plumb's scholarship has inspired generations of laymen; his intellectual generosity and didactic rigour has also reaped its rewards within historical departments on both sides of the Atlantic. Those inspired by the Plumb school of history, who mastered their craft under his watchful eye at Christ's College, Cambridge, include such well known names as Simon Schama, David Cannadine, Niall Ferguson and Neil Mc Kendrick.

This is by far the best book that i have read in a long time. Most history books are boring but this one is anything but. Plumb goes to great details explaining the relationship that each King shared with his son. He does a wonderful job of giving his readers a rare insight to the royal family.

In The Hahnemann Sequela, Harold King exposes the vein that runs from medical research to business and computer technology with surgical precision. This compelling novel begins with the author's insistence that we face our greatest fear ~ life can change in a heartbeat. Mixing a taste for complex research with his unique flavour of mystery, King delivers a potent dose of suspense and intrigue to one common man who must face a life~and~death struggle against astonishing odds. This is a novel fraught with tension and, all at once, frightening and provocative. A brilliantly written work, from the "undisputed crown prince of suspense," that will leave you wondering where fiction begins and ends. Find a copy of this book.

In The Hahnemann Sequela, Harold King exposes the vein that runs from medical research to business and computer technology with surgical precision. This compelling novel begins with the author's insistence that we face our greatest fear -- life can change in a heartbeat. Mixing a taste for complex research with his unique flavor of mystery, Harold King delivers a potent dose of suspense and intrigue to one common man who must face a life-and-death struggle against astonishing odds. This is a novel fraught with tension and, all at once, frightening and provocative. A briliantly written work, from "the undisputed crown prince of suspense," that will leave you wondering where fiction begins and ends. Find a copy of this book.

This book is like reading Tom Sawyer by Twain, Penrod by Tarkington, and sometimes like James Thurber. It is also something like the biography of Thomas A. Edison. A website about this book can be found at: http://members.aol.com/lhchristen/index.htm

Through this book you will get to know Harold Lloyd, one of the 3 comedy stars of silent films (other than Charlie Chaplin and Buster Keaton). I saw "Safety Last", which was released in 1923, and enjoyed it so much that I wanted to read about Harold Lloyd. This book contains pictures from many of Lloyd's movies and makes you wish you could see them all. However, just the summaries and accompanying pictures are quite funny and make good reading. Lloyd was largely the same person offscreen as onscreen, lived a clean life with his wife and children and became one of the richest men in Hollywood at the time. The book also gives the modern reader an idea of what was involved in the production of the early silent films. Great book.

This book is fabulous. It really transports you back to the Anglo-Saxon era. I originally read it because I wanted to read about William the Conqueror, but now I'm a huge Harold I "fan."

I was amazed at this book. I guarantee it to set any Christian on fire for God. I was in a low point in my walk and it was just what I needed. I borrowed this book from a friend, then purchased it and re-read it. I have passed it to every Christian I know and am still getting calls for their friends wanting to read it. It is truely an inspiring book. It is a very easy read book. Is wonderful for the newby and for the mature Christian walk alike. Definately one I would never part with.

Drafted by one of mystery writing's most ingenious craftsmen, Paradigm Red is a verbal blueprint for the intricate chambers of the heart and mind, drawing the reader to the convergence of the nadir of nuclear fact and the zenith of the author's explosive imagination. In the dead of night, author Harold King conceives a nuclear excursion, tolled to the deafening roar of a klaxon under ambient red alert - the paradigm red devised by one common man of uncommon mind who has reached the flashpoint of his personal hell. It is up to Harold King to contain the destructive forces he has unleashed -- or take everyone with him.

The suspense is alarming and, ladies and gentlemen, we will be experiencing technical difficulties as we enter an era when "advanced technology has gathered its own momentum and is about to master the master." Prepare to embark on a journey to the point of no return. This compelling author's startling vision of what lies just beyond one man's grasp -- the light at the end of the tunnel -- is the first light of day, or the last thing his readers will ever see.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

In Paradigm Red, published in 1974, Harold King writes, "[there is] the projected range of an estimated 1,000 nuclear power reactors by the year 2000." His prediction amounts to an operative half-truth. Approximastely 473 nuclear reactors worldwide command the attention of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). 473. This novel exposes only one reason why.

Paradigm Red was produced as the Paramount-CBS movie "Red Alert," also in novel-form. Both books are currently out-of-print but can be found using amazon.com's out-of-print book search. Definitely worth the Search. Now.

This edition of the Bible, Possibility Thinkers Bible, the New King James Version, was made available through the Sunday TV program by Robert Schuller who said that it contained the most beautiful English translation of the Bible available. Dr. Schuller was correct, in my view. This translation is quite beautiful and very easy to read. Previously I had read another translation in English which was frankly quite poorly and unevenly done. This New King James Version, Possibility Thinkers Bible, brought the Bible to life for me in everyday, beautiful English. My thanks go to the translators of the New King James Version. You did a wonderful job for the Lord God/Jesus Christ.

I reviewed this book once some time back but amazon apparently cleared it off so the original text is now lost. Still, Hope Muntz' tale of Harold and William and their epic tug-of-war for the throne of England which ended in the bloody Battle of Hastings in 1066 is worth writing about again.

I'm a lover of historical fiction and have never found any book in that vein better than this one is. Written in a terse saga-style which evokes the original time and place of the events recounted, THE GOLDEN WARRIOR offers a time-warp experience which puts us directly in the medieval world on the eve of the final fall of the last of the English kings. Some have found the style of the text a bit off-putting and distant in its early stage but I have never found anyone who, once reading beyond the cool, objective saga like beginning, has failed to admire the book at the end. If there are failings, and there are, they revolve around Muntz' portrayal of Harold, Earl of Wessex and later King of the English, as a man who is almost too good, too perfect to be believed. And yet he is vividly brought to life here along with an entire cast of brilliantly rendered folk including his beloved common-law wife, Edith Swan Neck, and his relentless rival and, finally, foe, William of Normandy. In fact it is William who seems more fully shaped, though Harold, in the end, is the one we cry for. And we do, or at least I did, finding tears on my cheeks when I came to the final battle . . . and this more than once. There are not many books, I think, which can do this but here is one which does it over and over again.

For those who love historical fiction, especially set in medieval England, and for those who admire the old sagas or tales of vikings and such, this book is to be sought and treasured. But it is less an adventure than a tale of real people in serious times. The tale of the fall of Harold has never been better told in my opinion than in this veritable English Illiad and I cannot urge it strongly enough. But if you've already read it or if you have no luck in finding it, you might try another which, while not quite as good (I regret to admit) may also be of interest to readers of this one. It's THE KING OF VINLAND'S SAGA by Stuart W. Mirsky, also available on-line and currently in print. Since I wrote it, I wouldn't mind if readers of this "page" wanted to take a look at it as well! -- Stuart W. Mirsky

This story emcompasses the life of Harold who starts out as an earl and eventually becomes King of England. His genius and his shortcomings are intricately portrayed by Ms. Muntz. The novel has an old world flavor to that at times is enchanting, and at others tedious.

It also showcases Duke William of Normandy as a shrewd, calculating future ruler of England. He uses Harold's faults as well as his virtues against him whenever possible.

Although the writing is somewhat archaic, it is a genuine retelling of this famous man, who would be King and for a brief time was just that. This book is out-of-print, however, if you can locate it it is well worth reading!

Hope Muntz's book is one of the best fictional accounts of Harold II's life. Muntz brings to life the very hazy period of history directly before the Norman Conquest in 1066.