The Normans

From Raiders to Kings

By: Lars Brownworth

Narrated by: James C. Lewis

Length: 7 hrs and 4 mins

Publisher's summary

There is much more to the Norman story than the Battle of Hastings. These descendants of the Vikings who settled in France, England, and Italy - but were not strictly French, English, or Italian - played a large role in creating the modern world. They were the success story of the Middle Ages: a footloose band of individual adventurers who transformed the face of medieval Europe. During the course of two centuries, they launched a series of extraordinary conquests, carving out kingdoms from the North Sea to the North African coast.

In The Normans, Lars Brownworth follows their story, from the first shock of a Viking raid on an Irish monastery to the exile of the last Norman Prince of Antioch. In the process, he brings to vivid life the Norman tapestry's rich cast of characters: figures like Rollo the Walker, William Iron-Arm, Tancred the Monkey King, and Robert Guiscard. The Normans presents a fascinating glimpse of a time when a group of restless adventurers had the world at their fingertips.

©2014 Lars Brownworth (P)2014 Tantor

Critic reviews

"Lars Brownworth's The Normans is like a gallop through the Middle Ages on a fast warhorse. It is rare to find an author who takes on a subject so broad and so complex, while delivering a book that is both fast-paced and readable." (Bill Yenne, author of Julius Caesar)

Great history, completely the wrong narrator.

A concise and fascinating history of the Normans from their days as Viking raiders to their ascendancy to the thrones of medieval Europe, the book itself is great.

The problem is the narrator. Mr. Lewis is woefully miscast here; he struggles with consistency in the pronunciation of names (Roger Borsa in particularly maligned; the duke of Apulia is Anglicised as Roger Borsa, then pronounced as Ro-jay Borsa, and Ro-jay Bor-say in fairly quick succession) and place names don’t fair much better. But it’s when he fails to pronounce words like “duchy” correctly that the book really begins to grate. A re-recording is the book with someone familiar with the terms and names would improve the experience greatly.

Great historical context

The historical data and information presented in this book is remarkable considering the time period and the record keeping that was available. Book is well read and well organized to make it easier to follow.

Good story telling and overview

Lots of good details, focusing on the driven leaders coming out of Normandy in the 10th century and beyond. Just know there are more in depth volumes.

Normans fucking rock!

Inspiring. I worship Oden and Thor now. I am officially becoming a pirate now. God bless my peeps.

Great Listen

I had always heard a lot about William the conqueror, but not much about the Normans in Sicily and their fight with the Byzantines, Germans and the pope. Very interesting.

The Normans

A tale of the impact on history in Europe and beyond of early decendants of the Vikings. Well worth your listening pleasure. Will peak your interest with many unusual and possibly, unknown Norman leaders. you may not heard. of.

Great narrator and story

Great book for filling the gaps in my knowledge of the Normans which was pretty shallow at best.

Interesting Book

Before reading this book, my knowledge of the Normans was primarily centered on William the Conqueror's conquest of England and the pivotal change that brought about to the history of Europe and eventually how that impact was manifested in the development of the new world. This books does go into detail on that but the vast preponderance of the book focuses on the other side of the Norman World - southern Italy and Sicily.

I did not realize how entangled Norman history was in the development of the Mediterranean world - and for the most part how a somewhat obscure Norman Knight's many sons played such a role in Italy, Germany, the Byzantine Empire, North Africa and the Levant. This side of the Norman empire lasted far shorter but the effects may have been even more far reaching. The perpetual wars, from Crusades, wars with the Pope, the Holy Roman Empire and the Byzantines probably did as much to weaken Byzantium as did the Ottomans.

The book was interesting, I found the narration to be average.

Entertaining, if simplistic

I enjoyed the book, it was far less detailed then I would have liked, but it scratched an itch. The narrator was fine, he said certain things weird(Williamses) and spoke way too fast(first time I've ever had to listen at .95 speed) but overall, worth the 10 bucks

Two twisting paths that the Normans took

I liked understanding the exploration of Sicily by the Normans and their relation with the Popes