The conflict between England and France in the 14th and 15th centuries never ceases to fascinate. This stimulating edited collection, inspired by the Problems in Focus volume originally published in 1971, provides a fresh and accessible insight into the key aspects of The Hundred Years War. With chapters written by leading experts in the field, based on new methodologies and recent advances in scholarship, this book places the Anglo-French wars into a range of wider contexts, such as politics, the home front, the church, and chivalry. Adopting a sustained comparative approach, with attention paid to both England and France, The Hundred Years War Revisited provides a clear and comprehensive synthesis of the major trends in research on the Hundred Years War. Concise and thought-provoking, this is essential reading for undergraduate and postgraduate students of medieval history.

An illustrated overview of the Hundred Years War, the longest-running and the most significant conflict in western Europe in the later Middle Ages. There can be no doubt that military conflict between France and England dominated European history in the 14th and 15th centuries. The Hundred Years War is of considerable interest both because of its duration and the number of theatres in which it was fought. Drawing on the latest research for this new edition, Hundred Years War expert Professor Anne Curry examines how the war can reveal much about the changing nature of warfare: the rise of infantry and the demise of the knight; the impact of increased use of gunpowder and the effect of the war on generations of people. Updated and revised for the new edition, with full-colour maps and 50 new images, this illustrated introduction provides an important reference resource for the academic or student reader as well as those with a general interest in late medieval warfare.

"This series [pushes] the boundaries of knowledge and [develops] new trends in approach and understanding." ENGLISH HISTORICAL REVIEW The essays in this volume explore relationships in all their different guises and expressions. Hostility between England and France cast a long shadow over the fifteenth century and beyond. While warfare at sea and the composition of the army which invaded Normandy in 1417 left extensive administrative records, sources of a different nature highlight the experiences of the French and Burgundians. The experience of the incursion of Henry VIII's forces in 1513 found expression in widely-distributed poems; while verses celebrating the births of heirs to the Hapsburg duke of Burgundy sought to allay fears over a change of regime by stressing the benefits of their multinational heritage. Portraits of rulers of Italian states emphasised the emergence of a shared courtly culture between England and Italy by commemorating their election as Knights of the Garter, while the records of Bishop's Lynn testify to the harmonious integration of immigrants from the Low Countries and Baltic regions. The Magna Carta of 1215 - intended to place the relationship between ruler and ruled on a new footing - had a long after-life, providing a blue-print for practices adopted by the Appellants of 1388 and being cited at the deposition of Richard II, only to be eclipsed in the late fifteenth century when depositions focused instead on challenges to the monarch's title. Poor records of the meetings of convocations have led to undue emphasis on their role in granting subsidies, but a register at Canterbury presents a different picture by revealing business of the southern convocation of 1462.

This series [pushes] the boundaries of knowledge and [develops] new trends in approach and understanding. ENGLISH HISTORICAL REVIEW For four decades, Michael Hicks has been a figure central to the study of fifteenth-century England. His scholarly output is remarkable both for its sheer bulk and for the diversity of the fields it covers. This extraordinary breadth is reflected by the variety of subjects covered by the papers in the present volume, offered to Professor Hicks by friends, colleagues and former students to mark his retirement from the University of Winchester. Fifteenth-century royalty, nobility and gentry, long at the heart of his own work, naturally take centre stage, but his contribution to economic and regional history, both in the early part of his career as a research fellow at the Victoria County History and more recently as director of a succession of major research projects, is also reflected in the essays presented here. The individual contributions are populated by some of the major characters of Yorkist England, many of them made household names by Professor Hicks's own writings - King Edward IV and his mistresses; the Neville earls of Warwick and Salisbury; the Stafford, Herbert, Percy, Tiptoft and de Vere earls of Devon, Pembroke,Northumberland, Worcester and Oxford - while the themes covered span the full panoply of medieval life: from treason to trade, warfare to widowhood and lordship to law enforcement. Equally broad is the papers' geographical spread,covering regions from Catalonia to Normandy, from Hampshire to Yorkshire and from Worcestershire and the Welsh marches to East Anglia. Contributors: Anne Curry, Christopher Dyer, Peter Fleming, Ralph Griffiths, JohnHare, Winifred Harwood, Matthew Holford, Hannes Kleineke, Gordon McKelvie, Mark Page, Simon Payling, A.J. Pollard, James Ross, Karen Stoeber, Anne F. Sutton

Ground-breaking new studies of Henry V's chapel, tomb and funeral service have new revelations and insights into the time. Before Henry V set out in 1415 on the campaign which culminated in victory at Agincourt, he made a will laying down precise instructions for a chantry chapel to be constructed in Westminster Abbey after his death, so that he could be buried close to his saintly ancestor Edward the Confessor. Seven years later the king died at Vincennes, and his body was brought back for burial in the Abbey; the elaborate funeral took place on 7 November 1422. His chapel was probably finally completed in the 1440s, and remains a distinctive feature of Westminster Abbey to this day. This book, stimulated by the 600th anniversary of the death of this iconic king, sheds new light on his funeral service and the design of his ornate chantry chapel and tomb. It also considers each of the "funeral achievements" - saddle, helm, shield and sword - traditionally associated with him. Drawing on up-to-date research by experts in each field, with exciting input from new technologies, it investigates the construction and form of the arms and weapons, as well as providing fascinating insights into the material culture and commemoration of royalty in the fifteenth century and beyond. Anne Curry is Emeritus Professor of Medieval History at the University of Southampton. Susan Jenkins is Curator of Westminster Abbey.

Volume II of The Cambridge History of War covers what in Europe is commonly called 'the Middle Ages'. It includes all of the well-known themes of European warfare, from the migrations of the Germanic peoples and the Vikings through the Reconquista, the Crusades and the age of chivalry, to the development of state-controlled gunpowder-wielding armies and the urban militias of the later middle ages; yet its scope is world-wide, ranging across Eurasia and the Americas to trace the interregional connections formed by the great Arab conquests and the expansion of Islam, the migrations of horse nomads such as the Avars and the Turks, the formation of the vast Mongol Empire, and the spread of new technologies - including gunpowder and the earliest firearms - by land and sea.

Essays throwing fresh light on what it was like to be a medieval soldier, drawing on archival research. The "long" fourteenth century saw England fighting wars on a number of diverse fronts - not just abroad, in the Hundred Years War, but closer to home. But while tactics, battles, and logistics have been frequently discussed, the actual experience of being a soldier has been less often studied. Via a careful re-evaluation of original sources, and the use of innovative methodological techniques such as statistical analysis and the use of relational databases, the essays here bring new insights to bear on soldiers, both as individuals and as groups. Topics addressed include military service and the dynamics of recruitment; the social composition of the armies; the question of whether soldiers saw their role as a "profession"; and the experience of prisoners of war. Contributors: Andrew Ayton, David Simpkin, Andrew Spencer, David Bachrach, Iain MacInnes, Adam Chapman, Michael Jones, Guilhem Pepin, Remy Ambuhl, Adrian R. Bell

From Shakespeare to The Beatles, the battle of Agincourt has dominated the cultural landscape as one of the most famous battles in British history. Anne Curry seeks to find out how and why the legacy of Agincourt has captured the popular imagination. Agincourt (1415) is an exceptionally famous battle, one that has generated a huge and enduring cultural legacy in the six hundred years since it was fought. Everybody thinks they know what the battle was about. Even John Lennon, aged 12, wrote a poem and drew a picture headed 'Agincourt'. But why and how has Agincourt come to mean so much, to so many? Why do so many people claim their ancestors served at the battle? Is the Agincourt of popular image the real Agincourt, or is our idea of the battle simply taken from Shakespeare's famous depiction of it? Written by the world's leading expert on the battle, this book shows just why it has occupied such a key place in English identity and history in the six centuries since it was fought, exploring a cultural legacy that stretches from bowmen to Beatles, via Shakespeare, Dickens, and the First World War. Anne Curry first sets the scene, illuminating how and why the battle was fought, as well as its significance in the wider history of the Hundred Years War. She then takes the Agincourt story through the centuries from 1415 to now, from the immediate, and sometimes surprising, responses to it on both sides of the Channel, through its reinvention by Shakespeare in King Henry V (1599), and the enduring influence of both the play and the film versions of it, especially the patriotic Laurence Olivier version of 1944, at the time of the D-Day landings in Normandy. But the legacy of Agincourt does not begin and end with Shakespeare's play: from the eighteenth century onwards, on both sides of the Channel and in both the English and French speaking worlds the battle was used as an explanation of national identity, giving rise to jingoistic works in print and music. It was at this time that it became fashionable for the gentry to identify themselves with the victory, and in the Victorian period the Agincourt archer came to be emphasized as the epitome of 'English freedom'. Indeed, even today, historians continue to 'refight' the battle.

A remarkable and very important unpublished chronicle written by two soldiers, covering in detail the English campaigns in France from 1415 to 1429. It lists many individuals who served in the war, and was written specifically for Sir John Fastolf, the English commander. This previously unpublished chronicle from the mid-fifteenth century covers the English wars in France from 1415 to 1429. It is highly unusual in that it was written by two soldiers, Peter Basset and Christopher Hanson. William Worcester, secretary to the English commander Sir John Fastolf, also had a hand in it, and it was specifically written for Sir John. The content is unusual, as it includes many lists of individuals serving in the war, and records their presence at battles, naming more than 700 in all. Over half these individuals are French or Scottish, so it would seem that the authors had a particularly detailed knowledge of French military participation. The narrative is important for the English campaigns in Maine in the 1420s in which Fastolf was heavily involved and which otherwise receive little attention in chronicles written on either side of the Channel. The progress of the war is well mapped, with around 230 place names mentioned. The chronicle was extensively used in the sixteenth century by several heralds and by Edward Hall. As a result, it had an influence on Shakespeare. The death of the earl of Salisbury at Orleans in 'Henry VI Part I' Follows the chronicle closely. The 'Mirror for Magistrates' Salisbury narrative is also derived from the chronicle. Another point of interest is that the chronicle is by a scribe who can be identified, and proves to be the only known fifteenth-century account of the war written in England in French, which adds an important linguistic dimension to its study.

'The English Civil War is a joy to behold, a thing of beauty... this will be the civil war atlas against which all others will judged and the battle maps in particular will quickly become the benchmark for all future civil war maps.' -- Professor Martyn Bennett, Department of History, Languages and Global Studies, Nottingham Trent University The English Civil Wars (1638-51) comprised the deadliest conflict ever fought on British soil, in which brother took up arms against brother, father fought against son, and towns, cities and villages fortified themselves in the cause of Royalists or Parliamentarians. Although much historical attention has focused on the events in England and the key battles of Edgehill, Marston Moor and Naseby, this was a conflict that engulfed the entirety of the Three Kingdoms and led to a trial and execution that profoundly shaped the British monarchy and Parliament. This beautifully presented atlas tells the whole story of Britain's revolutionary civil war, from the earliest skirmishes of the Bishops' Wars in 1639-40 through to 1651, when Charles II's defeat at Worcester crushed the Royalist cause, leading to a decade of Stuart exile. Each map is supported by a detailed text, providing a complete explanation of the complex and fluctuating conflict that ultimately meant that the Crown would always be answerable to Parliament.

A major contribution to the history of Parliament, to medieval English history, and to the study of the English constitution. ENGLISH HISTORICAL REVIEW The rolls of parliament were the official records of the meetings of the English parliament from the reign of Edward I (1272-1307) until the reign of Henry VII (1485-1509), after which they were superseded by the journals of thelords, and, somewhat later, the commons. This volume covers the first nine years of the minority of Henry VI, which saw seven parliaments. This high frequency is linked to the fact that Henry was only nine months old when hebecame king in 1422. The rolls of this period have much of interest on how government functioned during a minority. Parliament became a crucial cog in the wheel of collective and conciliar rule, and also had to deal with disputesbetween Henry's advisers. Also interesting is the transition from the regime of Henry V to that of his son. The roll for the 1423 assembly includes the inventory of Henry V's moveable goods as dealt with by his executors. That forthe 1429 meeting, during which the coronation occurred and a royal visit to France was planned, saw many significant common petitions, including that concerning the electorate of the 40s freeholder. The rolls from the periodare reproduced in their entirely, complented by a full translation of all the texts from the three languages used by the medieval clerks (Latin, Anglo-Norman and Middle English). Anne Curry is Professor of History andDean of the Faculty of Humanities, University of Southampton

Essays on crucial aspects of late medieval history. The essays collected here, offered by three generations of his friends and pupils, celebrate the outstanding career of Professor A.J. Pollard and pay tribute to his scholarship and enduring influence in furthering our understanding of late medieval England and France. Drawing inspiration from his own research interests and writing, which illuminated military, political and social interactions of the period, they focus on three main themes. The contrasting styles of governance adopted by English monarchs from Richard II to Henry VII; the differing responses to civil conflict revealed in a variety of localities; and the lives of men recruited to fight overseas during the Hundred Years' War, and beyond the border with Scotland in later years, are all explored here. These topics take us across England from the far north to the Channel, to London, the south-west and the Welsh lordship of Gower, while on the way also examining how townsmen resisted taxation, the gentry administered their estates and the western marches were ruled.

Essays throwing fresh light on what it was like to be a medieval soldier, drawing on archival research. The "long" fourteenth century saw England fighting wars on a number of diverse fronts - not just abroad, in the Hundred Years War, but closer to home. But while tactics, battles, and logistics have been frequently discussed, the actual experience of being a soldier has been less often studied. Via a careful re-evaluation of original sources, and the use of innovative methodological techniques such as statistical analysis and the use of relational databases, the essays here bring new insights to bear on soldiers, both as individuals and as groups. Topics addressed include military service and the dynamics of recruitment; the social composition of the armies; the question of whether soldiers saw their role as a "profession"; and the experience of prisoners of war. Contributors: Andrew Ayton, David Simpkin, Andrew Spencer, David Bachrach, Iain MacInnes, Adam Chapman, Michael Jones, Guilhem Pepin, Remy Ambuhl, Adrian R. Bell

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.

The theme of warfare as a collective enterprise investigated in the theatres of both land and sea. From warhorses to the men-at-arms who rode them; armies that were raised to the lords who recruited, led, administered, and financed them; and ships to the mariners who crewed them; few aspects of the organisation and logistics ofwar in late medieval England have escaped the scholarly attention, or failed to benefit from the insights, of Dr Andrew Ayton. The concept of the military community, with its emphasis on warfare as a collective social enterprise, has always lain at the heart of his work; he has shown in particular how this age of warfare is characterised by related but intersecting military communities, marked not only by the social and political relationships within armies and navies, but by communities of mind, experience, and enterprise. The essays in this volume, ranging from the late thirteenth to the early fifteenth century, address various aspects of this idea. They offer investigations of soldiers' and mariners' equipment; their obligations, functions, status, and recruitment; and the range and duration of their service. Gary P. Baker is a Research Associate at the University of East Angliaand a Researcher in History at the University of Groningen; Craig L. Lambert is Lecturer in Maritime History at the University of Southampton; David Simpkin teaches history at Birkenhead Sixth-Form College. Contributors: Gary P. Baker, Adrian R. Bell, Peter Coss, Anne Curry, Robert W. Jones, Andy King, Craig L. Lambert, Tony K. Moore, J.J.N. Palmer, Philip Preston, Michael Prestwich, Matthew Raven, Clifford J. Rogers, Nigel Saul, David Simpkin.

Fresh examinations of the activities of Henry V, looking at how his reputation was achieved. Henry V (1413-22) is widely acclaimed as the most successful late medieval English king. In his short reign of nine and a half years, he re-imposed the rule of law, made the crown solvent, decisively crushed heresy, achieved a momentous victory at the battle of Agincourt (1415), and negotiated a remarkably favourable settlement for the English over the French in the Treaty of Troyes (1420). Above all, he restored the reputation of the English monarchy andunited the English people behind the crown following decades of upheaval and political turmoil. But who was the man behind these achievements? What explains his success? How did he acquire such a glorious reputation? The ground-breaking essays contained in this volume provide the first concerted investigation of these questions in over two decades. Contributions range broadly across the period of Henry's life, including his early years as Prince of Wales. They consider how Henry raised the money to fund his military campaigns and how his subjects responded to these financial exactions; how he secured royal authority in the localities and cultivated support within the politicalcommunity; and how he consolidated his rule in France and earned for himself a reputation as the archetypal late medieval warrior king. Overall, the contributions provide new insights and a much better understanding of how Henryachieved this epithet. GWILYM DODD is an Associate Professor in the Department of History, University of Nottingham. Contributors: Christopher Allmand, Mark Arvanigian, Michael Bennett, Anne Curry, Gwilym Dodd, Maureen Jurkowski, Alison K. McHardy, Neil Murphy, W. Mark Ormrod, Jenny Stratford, Craig Taylor.

Fresh examinations of the activities of Henry V, looking at how his reputation was achieved. Henry V (1413-22) is widely acclaimed as the most successful late medieval English king. In his short reign of nine and a half years, he re-imposed the rule of law, made the crown solvent, decisively crushed heresy, achieved a momentous victory at the battle of Agincourt (1415), and negotiated a remarkably favourable settlement for the English over the French in the Treaty of Troyes (1420). Above all, he restored the reputation of the English monarchy andunited the English people behind the crown following decades of upheaval and political turmoil. But who was the man behind these achievements? What explains his success? How did he acquire such a glorious reputation? The ground-breaking essays contained in this volume provide the first concerted investigation of these questions in over two decades. Contributions range broadly across the period of Henry's life, including his early years as Prince of Wales. They consider how Henry raised the money to fund his military campaigns and how his subjects responded to these financial exactions; how he secured royal authority in the localities and cultivated support within the politicalcommunity; and how he consolidated his rule in France and earned for himself a reputation as the archetypal late medieval warrior king. Overall, the contributions provide new insights and a much better understanding of how Henryachieved this epithet. GWILYM DODD is an Associate Professor in the Department of History, University of Nottingham. Contributors: Christopher Allmand, Mark Arvanigian, Michael Bennett, Anne Curry, Gwilym Dodd, Maureen Jurkowski, Alison K. McHardy, Neil Murphy, W. Mark Ormrod, Jenny Stratford, Craig Taylor.

A collection which highlights "the range and richness of scholarship on medieval warfare, military institutions, and cultures of conflict that characterize the field". History 95 [2010] The journal's hallmark of a broad chronological, geographic, and thematic coverage of the subject is underlined in this volume. It begins with an examination of the brief but fascinating career of an armed league of (mostly) commoners who fought to suppress mercenary bands and to impose a reign of peace in southern France in 1182-1184. This is followed by a thorough re-examination of Matilda of Tuscany's defeat of Henry IV in 1090-97. Two pieces on Hispanic topics - a substantial analysis of the remarkable military career of Jaime I "the Conqueror" of Aragon (r. 1208-1276), and a case study of the campaigns of a single Spanish king, Enrique II of Castile (r. 1366-79), contributingto the active debate over the role of open battle in medieval strategy - come next. Shorter essays deal with the size of the Mongol armies that threatened Europe in the mid-thirteenth century, and with a surprising literary description, dating to 1210-1220, of a knight employing the advanced surgical technique of thoracentesis. Further contributions correct the common misunderstanding of the nature of deeds of arms a outrance in the fifteenth century, and dissect the relevance of the "infantry revolution" and "artillery revolution" to the French successes at the end of the Hundred Years War. The final note explores what etymology can reveal about the origins of the trebuchet. Clifford Rogers is Professor of History, West Point Military Academy; Kelly DeVries is Professor of History, Loyola College, Maryland; John France is Professor of History at the University of Swansea. Contributors: John France, Valerie Eads, Don Kagay, Carl Sverdrup, Jolyon T. Hughes, L. J. Andrew Villalon, Will McLean, Anne Curry, Will Sayers

`Careful, original and wide-ranging study of many different aspects of late medieval military history.' HISTORY The Hundred Years War embraced warfare in all aspects, from the grand set pieces of Crecy and Agincourt to the pillaged lands of the dispossessed population. What makes this book different from previous studies emphasising the great battles is its use of less familiar evidence, such as administrative records and landscape archaeology, to gain a truer picture of the realities of medieval warfare. From a general review of battle tactics, the book turns to examine (at points enlisting computer analysis) a number of issues: the composition of the English army, the management of affairs in Aquitaine, the response in England at large to the war and the consequent propaganda and hardship,and the impact of warfare on local communities. Close study of surviving artefacts - weapons, fortifications - also allows realistic assessments of military and naval experiences. Contributors: ANDREW AYTON, MATTHEW BENNETT,ANNE CURRY, IAN FRIEL, ROBERT HARDY, MICHAEL HUGHES, MICHAEL JONES, BRIAN KEMP, JOHN KENYON, MARK ORMROD, ROBERT SMITH, MALCOLM VALE.

Latest title, destined to be the Agincourt sourcebook for years to come, in the Warfare in History: Sources and Interpretations series. 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. CONTENTS Twenty-six chronicle sources, English and French Accounts from six sixteenth-century English historians Twenty-one records of contemporary reception of the battle, and the development of the literary tradition, in England and France Summaries of interpretations from the eighteenth to the twentieth centuries Excerpts from eighteen administrative records relating to the Englishand French armies

Special edition of a volume which has become the leading forum for debate on aspects of medieval warfare, looking at warfare in the fifteenth century. The articles in this volume focus on the fifteenth century. Several draw on the substantial archives of the Burgundian polity, focusing particularly on the Flemish shooting guilds, spying, and the provision of troops by towns. Theurban emphasis continues with a study of the transition from "traditional" artillery to gunpowder weaponry in Southampton, and a comparison of descriptions of military engagements in the London Chronicles and in Swiss town chronicles. Welsh chronicling of the battle of Edgecote (1469) is also reviewed, and there is a re-assessment of Welsh involvement in the Agincourt campaign. English interests in France are pursued in two further papers, one consideringthe personnel of the ordnance companies in Lancastrian Normandy and the other examining the little-known French attacks on Gascony in the early years of the fifteenth century. Contributors: Frederik Buylaert, Jan Van Camp, Bert Verwerft, Adam Chapman, Laura Crombie, Andy King, Barry Lewis, Randall Moffett, Guilhem Pepin, Andreas Rémy, Bastian Walter

Collection examining the Anglo-Norman language in a variety of texts and contexts, in military, legal, literary and other forms. The question of the development of Anglo-Norman (the variety of medieval French used in the British Isles), and the role it played in the life of the medieval English kingdom, is currently a major topic of scholarly debate. The essays in this volume examine it from a variety of different perspectives and contexts, though with a concentration on the theme of linguistic contact between Anglo-Norman and English, seeking to situate it more precisely in space and time than has hitherto been the case. Overall they show how Anglo-Norman retained a strong presence in the linguistic life of England until a strikingly late date, and how it constitutes a rich and highly valuable record of theFrench language in the middle ages. Contributors: Richard Ingham, Anthony Lodge, William Rothwell, David Trotter, Mark Chambers, Louise Sylvester, Anne Curry, Adrian Bell, Adam Chapman, Andy King, David Simpkin, Paul Brand, Jean-Pascal Pouzet, Laura Wright, Eric Haeberli.

As night fell in Picardy on Thursday 24 October 1415, Henry V and his English troops, worn down by their long march in search of a crossing of the Somme, can only have dreamt that the battle of the next day would be remembered as one of the most momentous victories ever won. Six hundred years down the line, the battle of Agincourt still rings through the centuries. In this stupendous victory English and Welsh archers who formed the bulk of Henry's army prevailed against large numbers of French men-at-arms and cavalry. This startling and revisionist history recreates the campaign and battle from the perspectives of the English. Acclaimed as one of the best battle accounts ever published, Anne Curry has updated her classic work in honour of the 600th anniversary of Agincourt.

Plant breeders have long sought technologies to extend human control over nature. Early in the twentieth century, this led some to experiment with startlingly strange tools like x-ray machines, chromosome-altering chemicals, and radioactive elements. Contemporary reports celebrated these mutation-inducing methods as ways of generating variation in plants on demand. Speeding up evolution, they imagined, would allow breeders to genetically engineer crops and flowers to order. Creating a new food crop or garden flower would soon be as straightforward as innovating any other modern industrial product. In Evolution Made to Order, Helen Anne Curry traces the history of America's pursuit of tools that could intervene in evolution. An immersive journey through the scientific and social worlds of midcentury genetics and plant breeding and a compelling exploration of American cultures of innovation, Evolution Made to Order provides vital historical context for current worldwide ethical and policy debates over genetic engineering.