Harold the King The Story of the Men and Women Involved in the Tide of Events that Led to a Battlefield Near Hastings, in 1066

England 1044. As dawn breaks over a summer's landscape, Harold Godwinesson is riding east. One of seven sons of the noble Godwine family, he is newly created Earl of East Anglia, and a talented diplomat and soldier. But marrying for love sets him against his family and his king.In France, William, the bastard son of a duke, is hungry for power. A charismatic leader, he cares nothing for the hypocrisy of court, only his next victory. Matched by his determined wife Mathilda, he casts his eyes towards England.King Edward, weak and tyrannical, is alternately influenced and angered by his powerful mother, the Dowager Queen Emma. Manipulated into a marriage of convenience with Harold's sister, he is at the mercy of his nobles -and he lacks an heir...