The Hundred Years War [Hardcover]

Robin Neillands (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 21, 2001 | ISBN-10: 0415261309 | ISBN-13: 978-0415261302 | Edition: 2

The Hundred Years War is a lively survey, re-creating the vigour of this turbulent epoch stretching from 1152 to 1453. The Hundred Years War was the longest war in European history, a war which brought fundamental change in two medieval societies, and ushered in the Renaissance.
The story of the conflict, its causes, battles, political struggles and consequences are told with colour and detail. This revised edition brings the scholarship on the conflict up to date and adds a new postscript examining the armies of the era.

Editorial Reviews

Review

'Tells the story of the whole war with accomplished clarity.' - Richard Cavendish, Literary Review

'Robin Neillands takes the story back to the roots of the quarrel ... a lively tale, well illustrated with maps and photographs.' - France Magazine

About the Author

Robin Neillands has written three novels and over forty travel books. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 328 pages
• Publisher: Routledge; 2 edition (December 21, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0415261309
• ISBN-13: 978-0415261302
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 5.8 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.5 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #5,401,983 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars nice introductory work, June 29, 2005

By 

Nikolai G. "Egir" (London, UK) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Hundred Years War (Hardcover)

A very vivid, well written account of the Hundred Years' War. The writer is a reporter, so the "lively" style in descriptions of facts and situations is not new to him. You will probably read the book only in a few hours (I did it in just three-four hours, to my own amazement), and can consider yourself rather well-informed about the general subject of the Hundred Years' War after that. It is an very handy introductory work, covering all the period of the war without omitting any details. By the way, much better than the writer's "The Wars of the Roses".

I gave it four stars and not five only because I do not consider it a must for experts on the 100 Years' War history.

5.0 out of 5 stars An example of how history can be as good as good fiction., July 19, 2011

By 

Solipso (Los Angeles, CA United States) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Hundred Years War (Paperback)

The question is do you want to delve into the Hundred Years War as deeply as Jonathan Sumption's 2000-page trilogy will take you, or do you want only a good understanding, without spending a great deal of time on it? The 300 pages of Robin Neillands' THE HUNDRED YEARS WAR gave me a good understanding without burying me. I do want to read other things.

Except for its long paragraphs, Neillands' account is written in prose that resembles modern fiction. It is easy to read with enough background detail to place the war into historical context, but not so much to bog you down. He does give some information about the economies of the time, and about the tactics and organizations of the two militaries. Given the complicated subject matter, much is necessarily said about the politics, and what is said is entertaining. Many characters enter into play, with more attention devoted to the major ones, like Edward III, the Black Prince, Henry V (Shakespeare: "Once more into the breach..."), and Joan of Arc. Descriptions of the main battles are lively, particularly Crécy and Agincourt.

Trees of royal dynasties are printed on the front and back flyleaves. Maps and a few battle diagrams are conveniently interspersed with the narration. Seventeen photographic plates help make the story real. You get a bibliography, but no footnotes. And you get a rudimentary index: each topic is followed only by page numbers, without any subtopics. But it's better than none at all.

I noticed two errors in my 1991 paperback edition, which may be corrected in the revised 2001 edition. On page 239, the year 1472 should be 1422. On the back flyleaf, Lionel Duke of Clarence is noted as Edward III's third son. He was actually the second son, and John of Gaunt was the third son (this mistake is not present in the narration).