The sinking of the White Ship on 25th November 1120, killing Henry I’s only legitimate heir is one of the greatest disasters England has ever suffered, unleashing two decades of bloody civil war. In The White Ship, Charles Spencer evokes the harsh and brutal story of the Normans from Conquest to Anarchy.

With their heir dead, a civil war of untold violence erupted, which saw families turned against each other with English and Norman barons, rebellious Welsh princes and the Scottish king all playing a part in a bloody, desperate scramble for power.