Viking pre-empts 'definitive history’ of 1066 

Viking editorial director Connor Brown pre-empted world English rights to Nineteen Days in Autumn: A New History of 1066 by Erin Goeres on the day it was submitted by Matthew Turner from RCW Literary Agency. 

The book is described as a “definitive history” of the most important days of 1066, following “the intense drama that unfolded over the tumultuous 19 days between Stamford Bridge and Hastings, and which led to the deaths of two monarchs, ending a centuries-long Anglo-Scandinavian rule”. 

The publisher said: “Drawing on sources from England, Normandy and Scandinavia, Goeres uncovers complex histories, characters and motivations. We meet the women at the heart of the fray – such as William’s enigmatic wife, Matilda of Flanders, the alleged lover of Harold of England and the ‘driving force’ behind her husband’s invasion – as well as the regular people who were swept up in events beyond their control, such as a farmer, beheaded for an unwillingness to give his jacket to a Norwegian invader.” 

Nineteen Days in Autumn is billed as “a gripping tale of three nations entwined, the devastating consequences of their unravelling and the subsequent memorialisation of this saga, which has given rise to the nationalistic myths of today”. 

Dr Goeres is Associate Professor in Scandinavian Studies at UCL. This is her first book for a general reader. 

Brown said: “In Nineteen Days in Autumn we see a new side to the infamous battles of 1066, not only because Erin is able to draw masterfully on a wide range of source material from the three lands involved – England, Norway and Normandy – but because she is a superb writer who can transport you to those battlefields and beyond with her compellingly vivid, novelistic prose. We are delighted to be publishing Erin at Viking.” 

Dr Goeres added: “I’m very happy to be working with Viking to bring the untold stories of 1066 to new audiences. 1066 is one of the most defining years in English history, but also one of the most misunderstood. It’s not just a story of battles and bloodshed, but of profound human experience at a time of international crisis. Sibling rivalry, imperial ambition, and thwarted love all play a role in this momentous clash between the peoples of England, Normandy and Norway.”