Customer Reviews

Plantagenet England 1225-1360 (New Oxford History of England)

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Michael Prestwich's review of Plantagenet England stretches from the Magna Carta to the Black Death, and even a little beyond, to the peace of Brétigny: not a very long, but a key period in English history. This particular book in the Oxford History has the major advantage of comprising both an event-driven account and a theme-based section. The political drama is thus put in context, and the necessary social tableau informed by the twists and turns of the kings' and other important men's doings.

The book is full of colourful individual anecdotes illustrating its broader analysis. It contains intriguing sections on crime and punishment and on the horrific Black Death. Prestwich indulges his pet themes, however, especially war and military strategy, while the essential subject of parliamentary development is left a little vague. This is the period when England's modern political institutions were born, when Westminster acquired a two-chamber parliament and embryo government institutions; this is of course mentioned, but it is a shame the book doesn't say more about how it came about. The economic and financial data can also be a little confused, the national debt calculations in one place bordering on incoherent. To some extent, though, these are minor quibbles, and the 575 pages this book contains are well worth reading.

The second volume in the New Oxford History of England. Prestwich deals with the problem of balancing narrative and thematic exposition by essentially dividing the book into 2 halves. The first half is a largely a narrative of events from the reigns of Henry III to the end of Edward III's reign. This covers both the major political history and some institutional history, particularly the development of governmental institutions such as parliament and the Crown's fiscal powers. The second half is a thematic set of chapters covering social history, economic history, Church history, demography, the impact of the Black Death, and some treatment of artistic and intellectual history. The quality of writing is very good.

A particularly important themes is the development of a relatively powerful and bureaucratic royal government, often prompted by the pressures of war. The individual personalities and capabilities of different monarchs are important features of the history of this period. Complementing the increasing power of the Crown is emergence of important parliamentary instutions. Other themes are the expansion and increasing monetarization of the economy, the increasing substitution of monetary for feudal relationships, the growing power of landlords, the effects of the growing population, changes in military technology, and the catastrophic impact of the Black Death. Prestwich's division of the book into a narrative and a thematic section is logical and useful though it has the effect of leaving some important trends, such as the development of parliamentary institutions or increasing monetarization of the economy, are treated implicitly rather than explictly.

This book follows nicely from its predecessor. There is a nice timeline of events appended and a very good bibliography though the latter is not annotated.

This is a great book though it is pretty heavy reading.
Fantastic detail of the era as you would expect being an Oxford History book

A great book on historical times in the 1200-1360 year period. Purchased for my wife who is an anglophile and this book filled one gap in her historical record of English history. Great illustrations.

Exceptional history! As in the case of every book in the New Oxford History of England series, this is a thoughtful, well-written overview. This book as well as the others in the series are pricy...but well worth every penny.