The best books on the Hundred Years' War

France and England, and then Britain, are traditional enemies. Since the Norman conquest in 1066 English, and then British, soldiers have fought all over the world, but far more time has been spent fighting France than any other enemy. Even today that resentment persists, and one of the reasons for Britain leaving the European Union was French domination of that organisation.

This book is about one of the longest periods of Anglo-French enmity, which later came to be known as the Hundred Years War. The war lasted for rather more than a hundred years, but was not one of continuous fighting.  Rather it was a series of campaigns punctuated by truces, one lasting sixteen years, but in that English aims remained the same throughout the period it is reasonable to consider it as one war. It is an important period in British and European history in that the war turned Anglo-Normans into Englishmen and citizens of semi-autonomous duchies into Frenchmen. While not ignoring the politics, I have concentrated on the military aspects of the various episodes of the war, as many other accounts do not always understand how medieval armies operated.

August 1485. The eve of the Battle of Bosworth. King Richard III summons a grizzled knight, Sir John Hawker, and charges him with one final mission. After the battle, he must return a priceless ruby to its giver, the Doge of Venice. Richard believes the jewel has brought ill luck to his family, and wants rid of it. Hawker must also protect Richard’s arrogant, newly knighted illegitimate son, a youth unaware of his true parentage. But the commands are overheard by a Tudor spy…

When the king falls, Hawker flees the field, Tudor agents in hot pursuit. Not knowing who to trust, Hawker and his small Yorkist band take the only course left open: Venice, with all its conspiracies—and the love Hawker left behind there...

Brother Foulques just wants to stay in Acre and perform his sworn duties as a Knight Justice. Instead, the young Hospitaller Knight of Saint John must undertake a dangerous journey from the Holy Land to a remote village nestled deep in the Alps, the "Spine of the World." His mission: buy 500 peasant boys and return them to Acre to be trained as Soldiers of Christ. Pursued across the Mid-Earth Sea by slavers, Brother Foulques and his charges are about to be thrust into a confrontation with the greatest warriors the East has ever known: the Mamluks. Once warrior-slaves, the Mamluks have overthrown their masters and now turn their eyes on Christendom itself. What chance does one Hospitaller and an army of children have?

Reality sets in as the Civil War wears on, and the horrors begin to haunt those who survive. Morgan’s cavalry knows the war is turning against the South. Their endless nights and days are haunted by the past and fear for the future.

Destruction spreads, and lives are lost as the Civil War rages. Supplies diminish, and the haggard armies continue pushing through the battles, hunger, and illnesses. After years of tenacious fighting, can the darkened souls of the survivors find peace?

This is an accessible, up-to-date, illustrated history of France and the French that captures the absence of any inevitable pattern of development, and also the interactions of the geography of France with political circumstances. While taking an essentially chronological approach, there is an engagement with important continuities. A helpful guide to understanding France today.

France and England, and then Britain, are traditional enemies. Since the Norman conquest in 1066 English, and then British, soldiers have fought all over the world, but far more time has been spent fighting France than any other enemy. Even today that resentment persists, and one of the reasons for Britain leaving the European Union was French domination of that organisation.

This book is about one of the longest periods of Anglo-French enmity, which later came to be known as the Hundred Years War. The war lasted for rather more than a hundred years, but was not one of continuous fighting.  Rather it was a series of campaigns punctuated by truces, one lasting sixteen years, but in that English aims remained the same throughout the period it is reasonable to consider it as one war. It is an important period in British and European history in that the war turned Anglo-Normans into Englishmen and citizens of semi-autonomous duchies into Frenchmen. While not ignoring the politics, I have concentrated on the military aspects of the various episodes of the war, as many other accounts do not always understand how medieval armies operated.

France and England, and then Britain, are traditional enemies. Since the Norman conquest in 1066 English, and then British, soldiers have fought all over the world, but far more time has been spent fighting France than any other enemy. Even today that resentment persists, and one of the reasons for Britain leaving the European Union was French domination of that organisation.

This book is about one of the longest periods of Anglo-French enmity, which later came to be known as the Hundred Years War. The war lasted for rather more than a hundred years, but was not one of continuous fighting.  Rather it was a series of campaigns punctuated by truces, one lasting sixteen years, but in that English aims remained the same throughout the period it is reasonable to consider it as one war. It is an important period in British and European history in that the war turned Anglo-Normans into Englishmen and citizens of semi-autonomous duchies into Frenchmen. While not ignoring the politics, I have concentrated on the military aspects of the various episodes of the war, as many other accounts do not always understand how medieval armies operated.

August 1485. The eve of the Battle of Bosworth. King Richard III summons a grizzled knight, Sir John Hawker, and charges him with one final mission. After the battle, he must return a priceless ruby to its giver, the Doge of Venice. Richard believes the jewel has brought ill luck to his family, and wants rid of it. Hawker must also protect Richard’s arrogant, newly knighted illegitimate son, a youth unaware of his true parentage. But the commands are overheard by a Tudor spy…

When the king falls, Hawker flees the field, Tudor agents in hot pursuit. Not knowing who to trust, Hawker and his small Yorkist band take the only course left open: Venice, with all its conspiracies—and the love Hawker left behind there...

France and England, and then Britain, are traditional enemies. Since the Norman conquest in 1066 English, and then British, soldiers have fought all over the world, but far more time has been spent fighting France than any other enemy. Even today that resentment persists, and one of the reasons for Britain leaving the European Union was French domination of that organisation.

This book is about one of the longest periods of Anglo-French enmity, which later came to be known as the Hundred Years War. The war lasted for rather more than a hundred years, but was not one of continuous fighting.  Rather it was a series of campaigns punctuated by truces, one lasting sixteen years, but in that English aims remained the same throughout the period it is reasonable to consider it as one war. It is an important period in British and European history in that the war turned Anglo-Normans into Englishmen and citizens of semi-autonomous duchies into Frenchmen. While not ignoring the politics, I have concentrated on the military aspects of the various episodes of the war, as many other accounts do not always understand how medieval armies operated.

Fourteenth-century England was a time of plague, climate change, economic disruptions, revolts,  tyrannical rulers, and corrupt favorites. Against a backdrop similar to our own, my knights, their ladies, lords, and ordinary folk live and love and struggle against the turning of fortune’s wheel—where they, like us, rise only to fall and inch their way round the wheel yet again. Each character wrestles in some fashion with the family motto of my hero knight: All is lost save honor.

Throughout, historical characters such as Edward III, the Black Prince, and John of Gaunt all appear. My favorite is the little-known revolutionary priest John Ball who I shamelessly modeled after my more radical relatives. I hope I accurately captured the essence of John—and of them all.