This text exemplifies historical writing in England during the high Middle Ages. Book II covers the first two decades of Henry II’s reign, 1154-74, and provides an important contemporary account. William charts Henry’s restoration of royal authority in England and his campaigns on the continent. England’s relations with Scotland, Wales and Ireland from 1169 are described, as are the two causes celebres in the Church - the papal schism of 1159 and the murder of the archbishop Thomas Becket.