Agincourt (British Battles)

by Christopher Hibbert

Paperback, 1968

Status

Available

Call number

944.025

Series

Batsford British Battles

Genres

Publication

Macmillan (1968), Paperback, 192 pages

Description

What drew a young king and his men onto the hostile plains of Picardy to meet a force four times larger than their own? Was it luck or superb generalship that carried them through? And why does this battle, above all others, stand out like a flare against the inky darkness of the history of war? Find out in this masterful retelling of an unforgettable 15th-century battle.

User reviews

LibraryThing member hellbent

Excellent rendering of one of the key battles of the middle ages. Good background for Shakespeare's Henry V.

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LibraryThing member john257hopper

A brisk and fascinating account of Henry V's invasion of France, the seige of Harfleur, the run up to the famous battle, the battle itself and the aftermath. A whetter of the appetite for more weighty works such as Juliet Barker's.

I did spot one mistake in the family tree at the end, where a wrong

line connects Lionel Duke of Clarence to the Earl of March rather than to Lionel's daughter Philippa - this is an unfortunate mistake in the light of the competing claims in the Wars of the Roses.

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LibraryThing member rmagahiz

An interesting account of what happened in 1415 and why it happened, with insights into the character of Henry V, the logistics of raising an army, and the experience of the common men-at-arms.

LibraryThing member PhilSyphe

I felt much of the early part of the book could’ve been whittled down or cut. I found the preamble overdone. I wanted to read about Agincourt, yet despite the book’s shortness, it still took a long time to reach the main topic.

Somehow, I couldn’t get into this, though I did engage with it in

parts. Perhaps the narrative is too bland for my tastes.

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LibraryThing member jztemple

While this is a rather short history of the battle of Agincourt and the associated campaign, it is particularly well done. There are descriptions of the background to the campaign, the preparations and the landing in France. The siege of Harfleur is well described followed by the march across

northern France shadowed by the French forces, then the battle and the aftermath. Additionally there is a rather interesting discussion of how the money was raised for the campaign and who got what. And several good appendices as well, including one listing Henry's retinue, which included such notables as the Clerk of the Stable and the Clerk of the Poultry!

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