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 England's '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 Harold's eye.

Peter Rex is a retired history teacher. He was Head of History at Princethorpe College for twenty years. His other books include King Saint: The Life of Edward the Confessor, The English Resistance: The Underground War Against the Normans, Hereward: The Last Englishman, Edgar: King of the English 959-75, all published by Tempus. He is currently writing a major new history of the Norman Conquest. He lives in Ely.