This volume investigates the foundational history and administrative evolution of Battle Abbey through the lens of its own internal chronicle. Eleanor Searle, a distinguished medievalist, provides a critical edition of the Latin text alongside a facing-page English translation. The work serves as a primary source for understanding the complex relationship between the monastery, the Norman monarchy, and the local ecclesiastical landscape in the centuries following the Conquest.

Scholars and historians regard this edition as a standard reference for the study of Anglo-Norman monasticism. Readers frequently note the academic density of the prose, which is intended for researchers and students of medieval history.