Bayeux Tapestry

The Bayeux Tapestry is probably the most dramatic and colorful record in existence of an historical event. It is also one of the world's greatest art masterpieces. This immensely exciting work, 230 feet long, tells the story of the bitter conflict between Harold of England and William of Normandy, two men of honor who in 1066 fought one of history's most famous battles, the Battle of Hastings. For William, the Conqueror, it was a day of splendor; for Harold, a disaster.

The whole triumph and tragedy of the battle, and what led up to it, are captured for all time in the glowing vivid colors of the tapestry. Embroidered in England only a few years after the events it pictures, the tapestry has an extraordinary freshness; it is hard to believe that the action it depicts took place 900 years ago.

The entire tapestry is here reproduced in its proper sequence with an accompanying text divided into two parts - the first explaining simply what is happening in each scene, the second describing the background more fully.

Norman Denny is well known as a translator and, under the name Norman Dale, as an author of children's books (including The Casket and the Sword). Among his most recent translations are The Future of Man by Teilhard de Chardin and Prometheus; the Life of Balzac by André Maurois.

Josephine Filmer-Sankey has acted in both films and repertory. This book was sparked off when she told the story of the Bayeux Tapestry to her four-year-old son and wondered, "Why has no one ever written a children's book on the Tapestry?"

Because there is little information to be found about the Tapestry, the authors went to Normandy to study it in detail. They have also taken into account the historical background and setting of the struggle - the countryside of southern England.