The Siege of Norwich Castle: A Story of the Last Struggle against the Conqueror

Blake, M. M.Project Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

Rating 3.2
Word count
494K words
Chapters
50

Tags

English Originals Historical Fiction Historical ReappraisalMilitary StrategyPower GameHeroismPatriotismComing of AgeMedieval BattlefieldTurbulent Era

Summary

Project Gutenberg was the first provider of free electronic books, or eBooks. Michael Hart, founder of Project Gutenberg, invented eBooks in 1971 and his memory continues to inspire the creation of eBooks and related technologies today.The Siege of Norwich Castle: A story of the last struggle against the ConquerorAuthor: Blake, M. M. (Matilda Maria),Language: English, Class: PR: Language and Literatures: English literature, Release Date: Oct 24, 2012

Editor's review

This historical novel by the English writer Matilda Maria Blake is set against the siege of Norwich Castle and draws on the last large-scale English resistance after the Norman Conquest. The title marks the main thread: the attack and defense of the castle and the fate of the resisters. As a nineteenth-century English historical novel, it combines adventure narrative with the recreation of historical scenes, giving readers a direct sense of the turmoil in English society after the Conquest and the plight of those who resisted. The work is a public-domain English classic whose pacing and style bear the marks of Victorian historical reading for young people; the plot moves briskly, making it a suitable literary introduction to the history of the Norman Conquest. A caveat: the novel carries the limitations of its era and literary invention, and cannot replace serious historical research; readers should treat it as historical fiction rather than a historical source. It suits readers interested in medieval English history who can read the English original.

Who it's for

A good fit for

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Reading tips

  1. Before reading, learn the basic historical background of the Norman Conquest and Norwich Castle to follow the plot
  2. Treat the novel as historical imagination and consult reliable historical sources for factual questions
  3. Note the choices and allegiances of characters under siege and how the author portrays the resisters
  4. Read chapter summaries before the full text to lower the barrier of classical English narrative

About the publisher

Project Gutenberg United States · Founded in 1971

Project Gutenberg is a digital publishing project focused on public-domain ebooks. Its publishing direction centers on classic literary works whose copyright has expired, covering genres such as poetry, drama, fiction, and epic. Representative books include Lyrical Ballads by Wordsworth and Coleridge, Proust's Du côté de chez Swann, Shakespeare's Macbeth and The Complete Works of William Shakespeare, Homer's The Iliad, Dante's La Divina Comèdia: Purgatòri, Cervantes's The History of Don Quixote, Volume 2, and Grahame's The Wind in the Willows. Its author resources consist mainly of classic Western writers such as Wordsworth, Proust, Shakespeare, Homer, Dante, Cervantes, Grahame, and Tolstoy. Its publishing feature is the provision of freely accessible ebooks in EPUB and Kindle formats; it is not a traditional publisher, and publicly available information is limited.

Contents

  1. 1
  2. 2
  3. 3
  4. 4
  5. 5
  6. 6
  7. 7
  8. 8
  9. 9
  10. 10
  11. 11
  12. 12
  13. 13
  14. 14
  15. 15
  16. 16
  17. 17
  18. 18
  19. 19
  20. 20
  21. 21
  22. 22
  23. 23
  24. 24
  25. 25
  26. 26
  27. 27
  28. 28
  29. 29
  30. 30
  31. 31
  32. 32
  33. 33
  34. 34
  35. 35
  36. 36
  37. 37
  38. 38
  39. 39
  40. 40
  41. 41
  42. 42
  43. 43
  44. 44
  45. 45
  46. 46
  47. 47
  48. 48
  49. 49
  50. 50

FAQ

Is this novel based on real history? The novel is framed by the real historical background of English resistance to Norman rule after the Conquest, and the siege of Norwich Castle was a historical event. But as historical fiction, its dialogue, plot details, and characterizations contain literary invention; it should be read as literature, not used as historical evidence.
What English level is needed to read this book? This is a nineteenth-century English original whose sentence patterns and vocabulary carry the marks of its time, demanding more than contemporary popular writing. Intermediate or higher English reading ability is recommended, or an annotated edition and dictionary as support; otherwise the classical narrative style may interrupt reading.
Is it suitable for children? The narrative has an adventurous quality and has often been classed as historical reading for young people. But the original is an old English work with a high language barrier; a parent or teacher with English ability should guide the reading, or younger children should use a suitable Chinese adaptation.

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About the author

Blake, M. M. Author

M. M. Blake is an author about whom little public information is available; all that is currently known is a single work attributed to this name, The Siege of Norwich Castle: A story of the last struggle against the Conqueror. Judging from the title, the book is set against the historical siege of Norwich Castle and recounts the final resistance to William the Conqueror, making it a work of historical narrative. Because the author's life, nationality, dates, and full body of work are not clearly documented, no complete assessment of their writing career is possible. This one work nonetheless shows an interest in medieval English history, especially the resistance movements after the Norman Conquest, and a tendency to organize the plot around castle warfare and political conflict. Such material usually combines historical narrative with storytelling and may appeal to readers interested in the Norman Conquest period.