The Hundred Years War: The English in France 1337-1453 by Desmond Seward (PDF)

Description

From 1337 to 1453 England repeatedly invaded France on the pretext that her kings had a right to the French throne. Though it was a small, poor country, England for most of those “hundred years” won the battles, sacked the towns and castles, and dominated the war. The protagonists of the Hundred Years War are among the most colorful in European history: Edward III, the Black Prince; Henry V, who was later immortalized by Shakespeare; the splendid but inept John II, who died a prisoner in London; Charles V, who very nearly overcame England; and the enigmatic Charles VII, who at last drove the English out. Desmond Seward’s critically-acclaimed account of the Hundred Years War brings to life all of the intrigue, beauty, and royal to-the-death-fighting of that legendary century-long conflict.

User’s Reviews

Reviews from Amazon users which were colected at the time this book was published on the website:

⭐The Hundred Years War: The English in France 1337-1453 in my opinion was an excellent book. Obviously the book tells about the Hundred Years War against the French and English. The author give a full account of the war and describes almost every detail about it. Desmond Seward tells the accounts of the French and English Kings, Nobles, common infantry, and peasants and how they were affected. He highlights important battles and events that help show the reader transitions of dominance between the sides. Seward broke the novel up into 12 chapters that went over different time periods of the conflict. The first began with the Plantagenets (English rulers) claim to the French throne because they believed that they were next in line, but the French Nobles decided upon the more French King Phillip VI of Valois. This started the lengthy and expensive war. Seward tells at the end of the book how the war had ravaged and destroyed much of France’s land and infrastructure, but in England it had brought much wealth through plunder and provided jobs for the poor for over one hundred years. However the French government came out the stronger as it created a very strong centralized government, while the English nearly went bankrupt and their administration was in chaos.I thoroughly enjoyed Seward’s book on the conflict that helped shape modern day England and France. He very vividly and correctly explains the Hundred Years War and it’s causes and effects. If any person I knew wanted to learn more about the French or English history I would strongly recommend this book. Not only does Seward teach the reader about the war, he also explains how the knights began to lose their military dominance and how Kings began to raise their own armies. You will also find out about the peasants account on the war, and how many were put the sword, or had their lands and money taken away. Overall it was a great book, and a very interesting topic to learn about.

⭐Well written summary of the Hundred Years War in a rather short book. Such an extensive conflict would surely require many books to be discussed in detail, but the author makes a good job at summarizing the main events, and going to the details only when needed. The story is easy to follow, and it looks well researched.As a non-English and non-French reader, the book seems a little biased in favor of the English position, or at least seemed to have been written for an English audience, but it’s too subtle to criticize the book for it.One thing that made the reading less fun at times was the use of some sentences or sayings in either French or old English, which in most cases felt like a lacuna in the text if you don’t understand those languages. A footnote with a modern English translation would have been helpful.Overall, good book, fun to read and informative.

⭐Seward’s _The Hundred Year’s War_ is showing its age (it was first published in 1978), but for an introduction into one of the most influential conflicts in European history, it still holds up well. The complex political relationships between the houses of Plantagenet and Valois are reasonably clearly explained, and his disucssion on the competing claims to the French throne is outstanding for both its clarity and berevity.No holds are barred in his assessment of the various rulers (from Edward II to Henry VI of England, and Philip VI to Charles VII of France). While a previous reviewer thought that Seward demonstrated a pro-English bias, I could find none; certainly the French suffered from both an appalling lack of leadership through most of the war, but the terror, plundering and economic havoc wrought on the French countryside is not excused, either. The details of the major battles (Crecy, Poitiers, Agincourt, Verneuil, Formigny, Castillion) is also quite good: the battle maps and disposition of troops are clear, and the wider strategic signficance of the battles is clearly detailed.I give it a mediocre review for two reasons: first, the maps of English possessions in France are clustered together at the end of the book. It would have been much more helpful to have these maps included in the text itself as the area under control of one king or the other was (or was about to be) discussed. Second, while Seward repeatedly points out the net economic benefit the war had for England, the perplexing inconsistency of the financial troubles of the English crown was not clearly explained.For a book its size (it is a little over 250 pages in length), the amount of detail and depth is commendable, particularly given the importance of the conflict to the creation of the modern nations of France and England (and, by extension, Great Britain). An interesting read for military historians, Shakespeare fans (I now have a much deeper understanding of his histories), or those interested in the early-modern period or late middle ages.

⭐Desmond Seward’s book is a short account of the Hundred Years’ War. It was written in the 70s, and its style is from that era. It emphasizes the kings and major players and battles, but it isn’t strong on the social and technological developments of the time, which significantly influenced the course of the war. And it tells the war as a story; it’s not in any way meant to be a scholarly work. Mr. Seward does emphasize the financial realities of the conflict, describing in some detail the fortunes made by English invaders through the plunder of France, an aspect of the war at odds with chivalrous images of the period. And Mr. Seward is a good writer. He has a succinct, readable style and brings a touch of drama to the tale. Overall, the book is a good introduction to the war. You’ll finish the book knowing “who, what, where, and when.” As for “why,” you might need another book for that.

⭐Good book, it gives a quick but informed summary of a war that lasted 100 years, on and off. The book makes you want to find out more about an important period of european history.

⭐Excellent. Thank you.

⭐Gave me a thorough knowledge in layman’s terms of causes of war, relevant chronology and the ways in which the 2 countries transformed as a result of the events of the war without over-intellectualising!

⭐This book is pretty much a slow slog through a very sad part of European history. Very much of a first one thing happened and then another type of recounting of events with never coming to answer why a little country like the UK could terrorize a larger country like France. Most likely, the answer lies beyond the events described in this book. As an aside, it has some early digitalization glitches in the arrangement of the text relative to illustrations.

⭐This is a very good book on the 100 years war it gives a comprehensive insight to the war and its causes excellent service

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