Must confess to skipping numerous paragraphs of this biography. With it being relatively short I’d hoped for a concise and engaging account of one of my country’s most famous kings, but instead I found it dull and rambling.

Like many nineteenth-century biographers, the author always opts for the passive voice, never the active: “The Welsh expedition of William” as opposed to “William’s Welsh expedition” and “The mind of William” instead of “William’s mind”.

This doesn’t make for smooth reading. In fact, “The country of Matilda”, as opposed to “Matilda’s country”, carries the ambiguity that in the 1000s there was a country called Matilda.

I’m sure there are more modern biographies available on William the Conqueror, so only read this one if you want a freebie. ( )