The Warrior King and the Invasion of France: Henry V, Agincourt, and the Campaign that Shaped Medieval England - Hardcover

Seward, Desmond

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1605986445 ISBN 13: 9781605986449

Publisher: Pegasus Books, 2014

Synopsis

Presenting a radical new look at Henry V―as a brilliant and brutal warmonger―this dynamic historical narrative will change our modern attitudes toward this warrior king.

In the course of the Hundred Years War, Henry V was the English figure most responsible for the mutual antipathy that existed between France and England. His art of attacking an opponent by making total war on civilians, as well as soldiers, created tremendous distrust and enmity between the two countries, which survives even to this day. He was a man of many contradictions, a perverse mix of rigorous orthodoxy―exemplified by his fanatical and intolerant religion―and of neurotic insecurity, stemming in part from the dubious nature of his claim to the English throne.

Henry V owed his popularity at home to victories against the French that gratified an emerging English nationalism. A tremendously ardent military strategist who experimented with ballistics and built the first English navy, at the time of his early death at the age of thirty-six he controlled one-third of modern-day France.

Utilizing new discoveries from local French historical societies, Desmond Seward draws a portrait of Henry V that shows him as a brilliant military strategist, ambitious conqueror, and, at least briefly, triumphant warrior king.

16 pages of color and B&W photographs

About this title

About the Author:

Desmond Seward was born in Paris and educated at Cambridge. He is the author of Richard III, The Last White Rose, The Demon's Brood, and The Warrior King and the Invasion of France. He lives in England.

Review:

“Seward shines a revealing light across the landscape of Tudor politics.”
- The Times Literary Supplement (on 'The Last White Rose')

“An insightful look into an England that was very different, but one that still resonates with our own times.”
- Sun News Miami

“An entertaining and valuable exploration of the early Tudor period.”
- The Literary Review (on 'The Last White Rose')

About this edition

• Publisher: Pegasus Books
• Publication date: 2014
• ISBN 10: 1605986445
• ISBN 13: 9781605986449
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 304