A close study of the military and political strategies of Edward III and
the Black Prince, whose great victories had by 1360 made England the
foremost martial nation of Europe.
Contemporaries considered Edward III of England "the wisest and
shrewdest warrior in the world", but he has not fared so well in the
estimation of modern historians, many of whom have argued that he was a
fine tactician but a poorstrategist. This is despite the fact that by
1360 the English had become the foremost martial nation of Europe; that
famous victories had been won at Dupplin Moor, Halidon Hill, Crécy, and
Poitiers; and David II of Scotland and Jean II of France were Edward's
prisoners, and the French, with the Treaty of Brétigny, had agreed to
surrender a third of their kingdom to his sovereign rule in exchange for
peace.
In War Cruel and Sharp, Professor Rogers offers a powerfully argued and
thoroughly researched reassessment of the military and political
strategies which Edward III and the Black Prince employed to achieve
this astounding result. Using a narrative framework, he makes the case
that the Plantagenets' ultimate success came from adapting the strategy
which Robert Bruce had used to force the "Shameful Peace" on England in
1328. Unlike previous historians, he argues that the quest for decisive
battle underlay Edward's strategy in every campaign he undertook, though
the English also utilized sieges and ferocious devastation of the
countryside to advance their war efforts.
CLIFFORD J. ROGERS is Professor of History, United States Military
Academy, West Point.
