The Bayeux Tapestry is impressive in its initial richness and, almost a thousand years after it was made, miraculously preserved. Entirely needle-embroidered in coloured woolen threads, it recounts the conquest of the Kingdom of England by Duke William of Normandy. The universal significance of this secular masterpiece from the eleventh century has earned it a place on UNESCO’s “Memory of the World” register. This beautiful book unfolds the whole work with accompanying detailed commentaries. It provides an update on current research, bringing together two erudite points of view from both sides of the Channel.

"Bayeux Tapestry to return to UK on loan after 900 years" - BBC

Xavier Barral i Altet is a French art historian specialising in Late Antiquity and the Medieval, Romanesque and Gothic worlds, subjects he teaches at the University of Rennes and guest professor at the Institut National d'Histoire de l'Art, Paris. David Bates, a British historian specialising in the Anglo-Norman world (10th–13th centuries), is the former Director of the Institute of Historical Research in London (2003–2008), emeritus professor at the University of East Anglia and doctor honoris causa of the University of Caen-Normandie.