A great teaching tool for every aspect of medieval history... a
remarkable book. JOURNAL OF MILITARY HISTORY
Accessible collections of primary sources covering the Hundred Years War
are still remarkably few and far between, and teachers of the subject
will find Curry's volume a valuable addition to their bibliographies and
teaching aids.FRENCH HISTORY
"Agincourt! Agincourt! Know ye not Agincourt?" So began a ballad of
around 1600. Since the event itself (25 October 1415), the great
military engagement has occupied a special place in both English
andFrench consciousness, respectively as either one of the greatest
military successes ever, or as the "accursed day". Much ink has been
spilt on the battle but do we really know Agincourt? Not since Harris
Nicolas's History of the Battle of Agincourt (1827-33) has there been a
full attempt to survey the sources until now: this book brings together,
in translation and with commentary, English and French narrative
accounts and literary works of the fifteenth century. It also traces the
treatment of the battle in sixteenth-century English histories and in
the literary representations of, amongst others, Shakespeare and
Drayton. After examining how later historians interpreted the battle, it
concludes with the first full assessment of the extremely rich
administrative records which survive for the armies which fought "upon
Saint Crispin's day".
ANNE CURRY is Professor of Medieval Historyat the University of
Southampton.
