History looks back on Eadric Streona as one of the most villainous men of his time. The BBC History Magazine elected him as the worst Englishman of the 11th century, and many also blame him for the victory of the Vikings over England. Streona means "the grasper," and such was Eadric's character: he clutched for power and money wherever he could. But what most historians fail to consider is that Eadric Streona's primary goal was peace and stability for England. Without contradicting the known facts, "Eadric the Grasper" presents another conception of this historical figure: he is suave, charming, intelligent, and values peace above all things. If he must put a Viking king on the throne to gain a pleasurable life for himself and his true love, so be it. Meanwhile, a ruthless vigilante called "the Golden Cross" will do anything necessary to keep the Vikings from the throne. Eadric must pit his wits and sword against the crafty masked figure, but doing so traps him in a dark web of lies and deception. When at last he uncovers the rebel's identity, his entire world will fall apart, and he must face a terrible choice. Can the selfish Eadric Streona sacrifice his own welfare for the sake of another's? Fans of Bernard Cornwell, Georgette Heyer, Ken Follet ("Pillars of the Earth"), and Baroness Orczy ("The Scarlet Pimpernel") will especially enjoy the style of this swashbuckling historical fiction.

A study of the experiences of the lesser English lords and landowners at the time of the Norman conquest and the aftermath

This book is an overview and analysis of the global tradition of the outlaw hero. The mythology and history of the outlaw hero is traced from the Roman Empire to the present, showing how both real and mythic figures have influenced social, political, economic and cultural outcomes in many times and places. The book also looks at the contemporary continuations of the outlaw hero mythology, not only in popular culture and everyday life, but also in the current outbreak of global terrorism. The book also presents a more general argument related to the importance of understanding folk and popular mythologies in historical contexts. Outlaw heroes have a strong purchase in high and popular culture, appearing in film, books, plays, music, drama, art, even ballet. To simply ignore and discard such powerful expressions without understanding their origins, persistence and especially their ongoing cultural consequences, is to refuse the opportunity to comprehend some profoundly important aspects of human behaviour. These issues are pursued through discussion of the processes through which real and mythical outlaw heroes are romanticised, sentimentalised, sanitised, commodified and mythologised. The result is a new position in the continuing controversy over the existence the 'social bandit' that highlights the central role of mythology in the creation and perpetuation of outlaw heroes.

This book constitutes a major reappraisal of the late Anglo-Saxon state on the eve of its demise. Its principal focus is the family of Ealdorman Leofwine, which obtained power in Mercia and retained it throughout an extraordinary period of political upheaval between 994 and 1071. In doing so it explores a paradox: that earls were extraordinarily wealthy and powerful yet distinctly insecure. The book contains the first extended treatment of earls' powers in late Anglo-Saxon England and shows that although they wielded considerable military, administrative and political powers, they remained vulnerable to exile and other forms of political punishment including loss of territory. The book also offers a path-breaking analysis of land tenure and the mechanics of royal patronage, and argues that the majority of earls' estates were held from the king on a revocable basis for the duration of their period in office. In order to compensate for such insecurities, earls used lordship and religious patronage to construct local networks of power. The book uses innovative methods for interpreting the representation of lordship in Domesday Book to reconstruct the affinity of the earls of Mercia. It also examines how the house of Leofwine made strategic use of religious patronage to cement local power structures. All this created intense competition between the earls of Mercia and their rivals for power, both at court and in the localities, and the book explores how factional rivalry determined the course of politics, and ultimately the fate of the late Anglo-Saxon state.

Rejecting the idea that English history begins with the Norman Conquest, Freeman's six-volume history influenced generations of early English historians.