Frank Barlow's magisterial biography, first published in 1970 and here reissued with new material, updated bibliography and a fresh introduction, rescues the king from contemporary myth and subsequent bogus scholarship. Disentangling verifiable fact from saintly legend, he vividly recreates the final years of the Anglo-Danish monarchy and examines England on the brink of the Norman Conquest with deep insight and great historical understanding.

Frank Barlow was Emeritus Professor of History at the University of Exeter.