Harold Godwinson was king of England for less than a year and failed to defend England from William the Conqueror s invading Norman army in 1066, an army that wreaked havoc across the country and changed the political history of England forever. Indeed, 1066 was so critical a turning point that it marked the end of the Anglo-Saxon epoch. The Last English King is the first full-scale biography of Englands lost king , an astute political operator who as Earl of Wessex won the affection of the English people and the death-bed nomination from Edward the Confessor (king of England 1041-1066) to succeed him. Peter Rex tells the story of the formidable warrior-king killed in battle in defence of his kingdom. The Battle of Hastings was a close-run battle that could have gone either way. England would be a very different place today had the fatal arrow missed Harolds eye.
