The Hundred Years' War was a series of conflicts waged from 1337 to 1453
by the House of Plantagenet, rulers of the Kingdom of England, against
the House of Valois, rulers of the Kingdom of France, over the
succession of the French throne. Each side drew many allies into the
war. It was one of the most notable conflicts of the Middle Ages, in
which five generations of kings from two rival dynasties fought for the
throne of the largest kingdom in Western Europe. The war marked both the
height of chivalry and its subsequent decline, and the development of
strong national identities in both countries. This work by Oman that
formed part of the Oxford Manuals of English History Series is both
succinct and scholarly.