Nick Barlow reviewed The last English king by Julian Rathbone
An imaginative take on historical fiction
5 stars
Originally read this years ago, but found a copy in a charity shop a few months ago and decided to reread it. Very glad I did, as it's a really good read. It's a tale of the vents of 1066, told mainly from the perspective of one of Harold's close guards after the event. The story is interesting in itself, of course, looking at how Harold and the Godwin family rose to power, how England found itself the focus of attention from potential invasions from Scandinavia and Normandy, and how the web of obligations and oaths tied them all together politically. However, Rathbone's ingenuity is in telling this story in the knowledge that this is historical fiction, not history, so he has a lot more leeway to insert an authorial voice, to highlight the incongruities of looking back at this from hundreds of years later and to purposefully deploy anachronism …
Originally read this years ago, but found a copy in a charity shop a few months ago and decided to reread it. Very glad I did, as it's a really good read. It's a tale of the vents of 1066, told mainly from the perspective of one of Harold's close guards after the event. The story is interesting in itself, of course, looking at how Harold and the Godwin family rose to power, how England found itself the focus of attention from potential invasions from Scandinavia and Normandy, and how the web of obligations and oaths tied them all together politically. However, Rathbone's ingenuity is in telling this story in the knowledge that this is historical fiction, not history, so he has a lot more leeway to insert an authorial voice, to highlight the incongruities of looking back at this from hundreds of years later and to purposefully deploy anachronism in telling that tale. It makes for a fasinating read, osciallating between comedy and tragedy, big picture and personal crisis, and well worth seeking out.
