William I: England's Conqueror

A slim volume, part of what looks like an impressive series from Penguin, well presented in hardback with an attractive slip cover. There is a good collection of colour illustrations in the middle of the book.

The book itself is brief but full of detail and Morris tells a compelling tale that includes a significant overlap with the life of Harold who (according to William) took the throne that had been promised to him, therefore initiating the chain of events that led to the invasion of 1066.

If you're a Game of Thrones fan, a lot of this will be familiar - the difference is this really happened. It's nice to see my home town of York getting a lot of mentions, though it seems to have been a bit of a football, being occupied by Vikings, Normans, English, Vikings and then Normans again (if I followed correctly).

The book is well researched and there's a full list of sources at the back of you want them. I read this in a couple of days and found it difficult to put down. I'll be looking at others in this series and updating my knowledge of English history.