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Nineteen Days in Autumn

A New History of 1066

Brought to you by Penguin.

The definitive character-led history of the most famous year in history.

On 5 January 1066, Edward the Confessor's death plunged the nation into a succession crisis that would indelibly change England forever. Mere hours after Edward’s remains had been laid to rest, his brother-in-law Harold II seized power, inciting the wrath of two formidable challengers: King Haraldr of Norway and Edward’s ambitious cousin, William, Duke of Normandy.

In this startling new history, Dr Erin Goeres unveils the intense drama that unfolded over the tumultuous nineteen days between the Battles of Stamford Bridge and Hastings in the Autumn of 1066, and which led to the deaths of two monarchs, ending a centuries-long Anglo-Scandinavian rule.

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 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.

© Erin Goeres 2026 (P) Penguin Audio 2026

A thrilling journey that forces you to see the events of 1066 with new eyes. This is history as it should be written. I loved it!

Alice Loxton, author of Eleanor: A 200-Mile Walk in Search of England's Lost Queen

About Erin Goeres

Dr Erin Goeres is Associate Professor in Scandinavian Studies at UCL. She is the author of two acclaimed monographs and in 2021 was awarded a Leverhulme Trust Research Fellowship. Erin is an expert on medieval history and culture and has appeared on BBC Radio 4’s The Long View and In Our Time. Nineteen Days in Autumn is her first book for a general reader.
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Details
  • Imprint: Penguin
  • ISBN: 9781405990011
  • Price: £14.00
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