Edward III and the Triumph of England

Oct 30, 2024 3:22 AM

Author:Richard Barber

The destruction of the French army at Crécy in 1346 and the subsequent siege and capture of Calais marked a new era in European history. The most powerful, glamorous and respected of all western monarchies had been completely humiliated by England, a country long viewed either as a chaotic backwater or a mere French satellite.

The young Edward III's triumph would launch both countries, as we now know, into a grim cycle of some 90 years of further fighting ending with English defeat, but after Crécy anything seemed possible - Edward's claim to be King of France could be pressed home and, in any event, enormous rewards of land, treasure and prestige were available both to the king and to the close companions who had made the victory possible. It was to enshrine this moment that Edward created one of the most famous of all knightly orders, the Company of the Garter.

Barber writes about both the great campaigns and the individuals who formed the original membership of the Company - and through their biographies makes the period tangible and fascinating. This is a book about knighthood, battle tactics and grand strategy, but it is also about fashion, literature and the privates lives of everyone from queens to freebooters. Barber's book is a remarkable achievement - but also an extremely enjoyable one.

Reviews

Barber [has an] infectious passion for and deep knowledge of his subject matter . . . elegant prose and rigorous historical analysis . . . a valuable and thorough addition to the body of work on this most impressive of English monarchs

—— Sunday Times

In Edward III and the Triumph of England [Barber] has written the kind of book that the king would have enjoyed: full of battles, glitter and ceremony . . . he has an original eye and an elegant pen

—— Jonathan Sumption , Literary Review

Barber shares his hero's love of chivalry . . . The book sparkles with some of Edward's own glitz

—— Telegraph

This absorbing book is layered rather than linear, sifting with uncommon sensitivity through challenging sources to test the boundaries of what we can and cannot know . . . We discover the complexity of the world in which Edward and his commanders lived

—— Helen Castor , The Times

A brilliant piece of military history. A writer with an impeccable sense of telling detail, Tuchman is able to evoke both the enormous pattern of tragedy and the minutiae which make it human

—— Newsweek

A wonderfully atmospheric narrative for those who are interested in the period but want more than just trenches and treaties

—— Observer, Book of the Week

A moving and myth-confronting account of 1914, Bostridge invigorates the familiar story of a year of two halves, when seven months of peace gave way to the worst period of conflict in world history. The humanity of this book intensifies the poignancy of hindsight and heightens one's awareness of the anguish felt by those survivors who remained behind

—— Juliet Nicolson , Telegraph, Book of the Week

An excellent introduction to this year's centenary of the War To End All Wars and a highly readable account for history buffs

—— Daily Express

As Bostridge shows in this beautifully written and detailed book, 1914 was a 'fateful year', England was truly never the same again

—— Independent, Book of the Week

Vivid, finely drawn

—— Mail on Sunday

As mesmerising as a great historical novel

—— BBC History Magazine

Escaping the Nazis across the Pyrenean mountain trails became one of the most extraordinary acts of spontaneous resistance of World War Two. In Cruel Crossing, Ed Stourton straps on his backpack and takes to the escape lines himself, reflecting as he treks on the courage and self-sacrifice of the escapers and evaders who went before him - many of them young women, whose remarkable stories are told here often for the first time. Stourton has produced both a compelling history and a unique mountain guide, telling his story with his familiar humour and journalistic verve.

—— Sarah Helm, author of A Life in Secrets: Vera Atkins and the Lost Agents of SOE

An important book packed with poignant stories, remarkable characters and uncomfortable truths.

—— Clare Mulley, author of The Spy Who Loved and The Woman Who Saved The Children

Cruel Crossing is an accomplished account of an overlooked part of the Second World War. Using wide-ranging research and an impressive number of eye-witness accounts, Stourton tells the story of the escape lines across the Pyrenees, and of the wartime history of southwest France in all its muddied complexity. The gripping escape stories he narrates are sometimes harrowing, often moving, and above all, full of variety and surprises. There is suffering, extraordinary bravery, friendship and even humour; but there is also treachery, betrayal and villainy. A fitting memorial to how war brings out the best and worst in people.

—— Matthew Parker, author of The Battle of Britain

Enthralling stories ... a moving retelling of some of the war's most heroic episodes

—— Nigel Jones , Telegraph

A vigorous book, full of energy as well as insight

—— Jeremy Black

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