Historians have long debated the significance of the Norman Conquest. Did it mark the imposition of an alien and repressive regime on "free Englishmen"? Or did England benefit from the uniting of two separate and disparate cultures and civilizations? Marjorie Chibnall, one of the leading historians of the period, here addresses these issues.

Marjorie Chibnall is a Fellow of Clare Hall, Cambridge. Her previous publications include The World of Orderic Vitalis (1984) and The Empress Matilda (Blackwell 1991, paperback edition 1993)