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The Warrior King and the Invasion of France: Henry V, Agincourt, and the Campaign that Shaped Medieval England
The Warrior King and the Invasion of France Henry V Agincourt and the Campaign that Shaped Medieval England Author:Desmond Seward Presenting a radical new look at Henry V?as a brilliant and brutal warmonger?this dynamic historical narrative will change our modern attitudes toward this warrior king. In the course of the Hundred Years War, Henry V was the English figure most responsible for the mutual antipathy that existed between France and England. His art of attacking an... more » opponent by making total war on civilians, as well as soldiers, created tremendous distrust and enmity between the two countries, which survives even to this day. He was a man of many contradictions, a perverse mix of rigorous orthodoxy?exemplified by his fanatical and intolerant religion?and of neurotic insecurity, stemming in part from the dubious nature of his claim to the English throne.
Henry V owed his popularity at home to victories against the French that gratified an emerging English nationalism. A tremendously ardent military strategist who experimented with ballistics and built the first English navy, at the time of his early death at the age of thirty-six he controlled one-third of modern-day France.
Utilizing new discoveries from local French historical societies, Desmond Seward draws a portrait of Henry V that shows him as a brilliant military strategist, ambitious conqueror, and, at least briefly, triumphant warrior king. 16 pages of color and B&W photographs« less