Hereward The Wake

After the Norman victory in Hastings in 1066, William the Conqueror's oppression of the English led to widespread famine, death and destruction. Returning from Flanders to find his country taken over by the Normans, Hereward, embarked on a path of resistance. This work rescues Hereward from the myths associated with his life and career.

"A work that is as disturbing as it is empathetic, as beautiful as it is riveting." —Eimear McBride, New Statesman In the aftermath of the Norman Invasion of 1066, William the Conqueror was uncompromising and brutal. English society was broken apart, its systems turned on their head. What is little known is that a fractured network of guerrilla fighters took up arms against the French occupiers. In The Wake, a postapocalyptic novel set a thousand years in the past, Paul Kingsnorth brings this dire scenario back to us through the eyes of the unforgettable Buccmaster, a proud landowner bearing witness to the end of his world. Accompanied by a band of like-minded men, Buccmaster is determined to seek revenge on the invaders. But as the men travel across the scorched English landscape, Buccmaster becomes increasingly unhinged by the immensity of his loss, and their path forward becomes increasingly unclear. Written in what the author describes as "a shadow tongue"—a version of Old English updated so as to be understandable to the modern reader—The Wake renders the inner life of an Anglo-Saxon man with an accuracy and immediacy rare in historical fiction. To enter Buccmaster's world is to feel powerfully the sheer strangeness of the past. A tale of lost gods and haunted visions, The Wake is both a sensational, gripping story and a major literary achievement.

The last historical novel penned by beloved British author Charles Kingsley, Hereward the Wake follows the story of an 11th-century resistance leader in the marshy region of eastern England who, according to legend, was the last holdout in the fight against the Norman invasion. Little known before he was featured as the star figure in Kingsley's novel, Hereward came to be regarded as an English folk hero.

Based on a 12th century manuscript, this book traces the fortunes of the warrior Hereward the Wake as he is banished from his village of Brunn for his rash anarchic ways, to sell his skills as a mercenary. As an outlaw, Hereward helps organise the great resistance at Ely, before returning to claim the lands the Normans had seized from his family.

1066 - Senlac Ridge, England. William the Bastard, Duke of Normandy, defeats Harold Godwinson, King Harold II of England, in what will become known as the Battle of Hastings. The battle is hard fought and bloody, the lives of thousands have been spent, including that of King Harold. But England will not be conquered easily, the Anglo-Saxons will not submit meekly to Norman rule. Although his heroic deeds will nearly be lost to legend, one man unites the resistance. His name is Hereward of Bourne, the champion of the English. His honour, bravery and skill at arms will change the future of England. His is the legacy of the noble outlaw. This is his story.