This work investigates the historical accuracy and contemporary perspective of the Battle of Hastings through the lens of a primary source poem composed shortly after the event. The author, Guy, Bishop of Amiens, provides a near-contemporary account of the Norman Conquest, which scholars Catherine Morton and Hope Muntz analyze through rigorous textual criticism and historical contextualization. The book serves as a critical edition, evaluating the poem's claims against other established records of the 1066 conflict.

Historians and medievalists regard this volume as a foundational text for understanding the early Norman perspective on the conquest of England. Readers frequently note the academic density of the prose and the meticulous nature of the editorial notes provided by Morton and Muntz.