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Henry’s and Stephen’s armies confronted one another here at Wallingford Castle. Robert Bartlett, The Plantagenets I, BBC 2014
While Matilda hesitated it was her cousin Stephen who seized the moment. Stephen was a powerful man and an effective soldier. Helen Castor, She Wolves: England’s Early Queens I, BBC 2012
Stephen’s masterstroke was his speedily arranged coronation. ibid.
Normandy had collapsed into anarchy and so had Stephen’s army. ibid.
That man was Stephen – what followed was a protracted civil war ... One of the bleakest periods in our history. Sam Willis, Castles: Britain's Fortified History I, Instruments of Invasion, BBC 2014
At 172 days the siege of Kennilworth was the longest to take place on English soil. ibid.