The Hundred Years War

[Csargo]

Does anyone have any suggestions for good books about the Hundred Years War or The History of England? I've become really interested with English history and thought I would post this here since you all know so much about history and good books.

[Atilius]

Oddly enough, my first recommendation is titled The Hundred Years War by Desmond Seward.

Barbara Tuchman's A Distant Mirror covers roughly the same time period but its focus is broader. In addition to THYW, it covers the Black Death, the Papal schism, events in Switzerland and Italy, and the last crusade of the medieval era.


For English history in general:

The Wars of the Roses by Alison Weir. Picks up when THYW leaves off.

Amy Kelly's Eleanor of Aquitaine and the Four Kings. Eleanor was first married to King Louis VI and went with him on the 2nd crusade. Her second husband was Henry II of England and she was the mother of the kings Richard Coeur de Lion and John Lackland. She was involved in Henry's feud with Thomas Becket and was as responsible as anyone for the medieval fashion of courtly love.

Dreadnought, by Robert K. Massie, is a great history of the naval competition between Great Britain and Germany beginning in the late 19th century.

[ShadesWolf]

Does anyone have any suggestions for good books about the Hundred Years War or The History of England? I've become really interested with English history and thought I would post this here since you all know so much about history and good books.

How many do you want and with reference to which aspect ? This is such a vast area, and so many good books cover different aspects of the conflict

[The Blind King of Bohemia]

You need only two (thus far) - Trial by Battle and Trial by Fire by Jonathan Sumption. He still is writing them and they have a long way to go, but their more comprehensive than anything else and tell you everything you'll ever need to know about the HYW.

[matteus the inbred]

You need only two (thus far) - Trial by Battle and Trial by Fire by Jonathan Sumption. He still is writing them and they have a long way to go, but their more comprehensive than anything else and tell you everything you'll ever need to know about the HYW.

Absolutely, they would be my pick too. Incredible detail, even my crusty history tutor recomended them...
Any of the Yale English Monarchs series are good books written by top historians, Richard II by Nigel Saul is definitely among the best and very relevant to the period.
http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/0...UTF8&s=gateway

Obviously the volumes on Henry V/VI would be relevant too. You can often get them in offers on Amazon.

The Three Edwards: War and State in England 1272-1377 by Michael Prestwich is also a very good intro to the 100YW period...

[Duke of Gloucester]

If you are interested in a primary source, I enjoyed reading the Chronicles of Jean Froissart some time ago.

Listing on Amazon

[matteus the inbred]

If you are interested in a primary source, I enjoyed reading the Chronicles of Jean Froissart some time ago.

Listing on Amazon

D'oh, can't believe I forgot Froissart!

There's a number of other major medieval primary sources available on the Richard III society website. www.richardiii.net

[Atilius]

If you are interested in a primary source, I enjoyed reading the Chronicles of Jean Froissart some time ago.

...And you can find the Chronicles online here.

[ShadesWolf]

As you can see from all these replys this is a vast area.

We need more info to give you a good large list

[Csargo]

How many do you want and with reference to which aspect ? This is such a vast area, and so many good books cover different aspects of the conflict

I would just like a couple of books. I'll take what you think would be most interesting and you would recommend.

[ShadesWolf]

I would just like a couple of books. I'll take what you think would be most interesting and you would recommend.

OK as stated by BkB

You need only two (thus far) - Trial by Battle and Trial by Fire by Jonathan Sumption

These are a good start, they are large books, ie 600 pages each. However, these give you one small problem they only take the conflict upto 1369. But most people you talk to will haver these books.

I would also suggest

The Hundred years war by Robin Neillands

ISBN 0415261309

This books also talk about The Angevin Empire 1152-1223 and talks about the situation with Aquitaine and its homage.

[Csargo]

Alright thanks ShadesWolf and everyone else who contributed. Currently I am reading two books The Feudal Kingdom of England 1042-1216By Frank Barlow and The Hundred Years War By Christopher Allmand. The first one is really indept into England in those years but The Hundred Years War is just like a glimpse into what really happened at the time so thats the whole reason I started this thread cause I knew there would be people who now good books. Thanks again.

[beauchamp]

Froissarts chronicles, one of my favorite books of all time.
My ancestors fought in the 100 years war!

[Celtic_Guardian]

I found the novel Sarum to be pretty good, it starts off at the end of the ice age, and traces a few families as they go up to modern times in the area of Salisbury.

[Pindar]

Hello,

This is one not mentioned that I liked and you may also: The Hundred Years War "The English in France". http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/014...012701?ie=UTF8

[ShadesWolf]

Most of the books I have are from an English point of view.
I have a few based on France, but nothing really from a French point of view, or any French books translated/ released in England....


Can anybody help ?

[Brenus]

Try this link: xenophongroup.com/montjoie/hyw_fp.htm
It is an English version but I think it is French.

[frogbeastegg]

Any of the Yale English Monarchs series [...] Henry IV

There's a Henry IV in this series!? Anyone able to give me a link to it on Amazon or the ISBN please?

I've got what I belived to be the entire medieval range, which leaves gaps for Stephan, Henry III, Edward II, Edward III, and Henry IV. I've never found any trace of volumes on these kings. If anyone knows otherwise ...? I loathe these gaps, and to an extent they are proving hard to fill. With the exception of the recently published 'The Perfect King' by Mortimer on Edward III the rest I only have general works on, or biographies of contemporary characters, such as Simon de Monteforte and Queen Isabella.

Apologies for the thread hijack

[matteus the inbred]

Sorry Froggy, apology owed, no trace of Edward III/Henry IV on Yale's website, even in planning stages...my history tutor, Nigel Saul, wrote the Richard II volume and was apparently planning or had knowledge of someone else (maybe Chris Allmand?) planning Henry IV, but there's no sign of it. Assumptions are verily the mother of all screw-ups...I have edited my misleading post accordingly.
What's the Mortimer book like? It seems to have had varying reviews on Amazon...

[frogbeastegg]

Curses. :sigh: Oh well, not the end of the world. It's the earlier kings I'm most interested in, and those gaps irritate me most. I've got Crouch's King Stephan, but nothing at all for Henry III, save for the mentions he gets in the general overview histories. I really want a good Henry III.

I've only had the Mortimer book for a couple of weeks, and I've got some others I want to finish before I do much with it. The random few pages here and there I've read were good enough; I'm quite looking forward to reading it properly.

[matteus the inbred]

There's one fairly well known (but only reprinted since 1966!) book called
King Henry III and the Lord Edward, by F. M. Powicke. Otherwise I guess you're stuck with cross-referencing him under Simon de Montfort and Westminster Abbey/Edward the Confessor...it is odd and frustrating that he was one of England's longest reigning kings, whose reign saw many significant changes in many areas, and yet, no proper biography.
The Simon de Montfort Society (www.simondemontfort.org) has a huge bibliography (although, tellingly, their website index does not contain an individual reference to Henry III...!)

[King Henry V]

Curses. :sigh: Oh well, not the end of the world. It's the earlier kings I'm most interested in, and those gaps irritate me most. I've got Crouch's King Stephan, but nothing at all for Henry III, save for the mentions he gets in the general overview histories. I really want a good Henry III.

I've only had the Mortimer book for a couple of weeks, and I've got some others I want to finish before I do much with it. The random few pages here and there I've read were good enough; I'm quite looking forward to reading it properly.

If you want a good book about the life and reign of King Stephen, read Jim Bradbury's Stephen and Matilda: The Anarchy 1139-54. Highly recommended.