The Hundred Years War: Trial by Battle (vol. 1) - Jonathan Sumption [epub]

Sumption's history of this sordid and bloody conflict will be the defining opus of this era. In this first volume of 600 pages he covers intimately all aspects of the war's first 10 years. He is mostly skilled at both the economic and diplomatic machinations of the conflict, emphasizing how armies were fielded and then supported. His scope is grand and he covers events as far away as Scotland, Flanders, Brittany, and the Popes involvement from the Avignon palaces. His strategic interpretation is superb, without equal. He has an ability to get into the head of participants and show their ultimate motivation in fighting. Why particular courses were decided upon are also fittingly reviewed: why a campaign in Flanders? Why get involved in Britany? How did England ultimately expand and prevail in Aquitaine when their foothold was so tenuous? Why were the French completely unable to exploit a fundamental position of strength by working with their internal lines of communication? All of these questions are answered in good detail.