First published in 1898, and following on from Volume 1, this second volume charts the history of medieval warfare from 1278 to 1485. Written by Sir Charles Oman, one of the great medievalists of his time, this book remains for students and general readers one of the best accounts of military art in the Middle Ages. Many of the chapters have been re-written in view of new research. This edition is based on Methuen's 1978 revised and enlarged edition, which includes new chapters on the Swiss Confederacy, the Tartars, the Ottoman Turks, The Italian Condottieri, the English campaigns in France in the 15th century, the Wars of the Roses, and the early employment of artillery.

The old mystery of the 'Lyons Mail' is of all crime-problems the most complicated and interesting. It is not even yet forgotten, as those will remember who saw the elder and the younger Irving, play the double part of Lesurques and Dubosq-a sort of misreading of the problem of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. But the real story is tangled up with all manner of historical persons. The lost money was going to General Bonaparte, then on his first victorious campaign in the Italian Alps: three of the 'Directors' La Revelliere - Lepeaux, Gohier and Merlin dispute in the affair. Madame Tallien - 'Notre Dame de Thermidor' makes a flitting appearance: still more improbably the two famous epicures of the age - Cambaceres and Brillat-Savarin take the chair. Even Talleyrand shows for a moment.

This book presents a general summary of the views on the history of the world held by various historians' perspective. Rest of the book is derived from author's main work of 20 years on the Napoleonic period. Narrative includes four stories of the Secret Service that illustrate in different fashions the underworld of political and military intrigue which escapes notice in other general history work. Some of the material included in this book is derived from the study of the British tactics before the Peninsular War and helps to comprehend Duke of Wellington's methods of warfare with Napoleon and his armies. Discussion is included on Napoleon's system of using his cavalry as a generalization with a specific study of the handling of the cavalry by his generals in the Spanish War.