The past is never dead, it isn’t even past
One of our most cherished and favourite authors, Gordon Corrigan, passed in the last week. Gordon was a soldier, broadcaster, historian and friend. He wrote, on a variety of periods and subjects, with both scholarship and style. He was one of our most popular guests...
Michael Livingston’s new book pours fresh wine into a very old bottle: the subject of the Hundred Years War has been covered in detail by many historians, notably the multi-volume work by Jonathan Sumption. Livingston attempts to break new ground by extending the...
The Hundred Years War is a label coined in 1823 as a chapter heading for a French textbook. It was both a matter of convenience and a way of furthering our understanding of the past: we name things to talk about them, so creating a label for this turbulent period of...
A Prince Among Men: Michael Jones Interviewed by Richard Foreman Can you tell us about the origin of the idea for you to write a biography of the Black Prince, or Edward of Woodstock? As a military historian, my publishers’ interest in a new biography of the Black...
David, congratulations on the new book. What's the plot of the new series? The new series follows the adventures of John Page, a real-life English soldier who served in Normandy during the reign of Henry V (1413-22). He misses the battle of Agincourt, but is outlawed...
Shakespearean Tale, Helen Castor Interview. How much can we divorce the two kings you have written about, from the characters of the Shakespeare plays? It is some of the most exquisite writing by one of the greatest writers there's ever been. So in that sense, it's...
England’s Alexander, Dan Jones on Henry V I’m sure many of us remember studying Henry V at school. For those of us at the age of thirteen not wholly thrilled to be forced to read Shakespeare, this play was undeniably entertaining. We even enjoyed mimicking the accents...
Top Five: Books on The Battle of Agincourt Agincourt: The King, The Campaign, The Battle, by Juliet Barker. Combines scholarship with great narrative drive. Barker is strong on detail, grand strategy and looking at the campaign through the eyes of archers and...
Crécy: Finest Hours is a highly engaging exploration of the background of the Hundred Years’ War, the Battle of Crécy, and its aftermath. Gordon Corrigan presents Crécy as a key turning point in English military history, representative of the shifts in English society...
The Battle of Crécy is the first in a series of three books covering the major land battles of the Hundred Years War, that attempt to enforce the English claim to the throne of France by right of inheritance, and to regain those English possessions in France lost by...
