What do you think?
Rate this book
Cambridge Medieval Textbooks
The Hundred Years War: England and France at War, c.1300-c.1450
This is a comparative study of how the societies of late-medieval England and France reacted to the long period of conflict between them commonly known as the Hundred Years War. Beginning with an outline of the events of the war, the book continues with an analysis of contemporary views regarding the war. Two chapters follow that describe the military aim of the protagonists, military and naval organization, recruitment, and the raising of taxes. The remainder of the book describes and analyzes some of the main social and economic effects of war upon society, the growth of a sense of national consciousness in time of conflict, and the social criticism that came from those who reacted to changes and development brought about by war.
232 pages, Hardcover
First published December 12, 1987
8 people are currently reading
257 people want to read
About the author
Christopher Allmand
20 books10 followersChristopher Thomas Allmand was an English medieval historian, with a special focus on the Late Middle Ages in England and France, and the Hundred Years' War. He was Professor of Medieval History at the University of Liverpool until his retirement in 1998, and then Honorary Senior Fellow at the university.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
January 10, 2014
This is a helpful book, but not terribly exciting. Christopher Allmand does a nice job outlining the main events in the Hundred Years War and the general forces, ideas, and events that led up to it. The first 40 or so pages, in that sense, are clear and approachable, if not terribly detailed (poor Joan of Arc gets about two sentences).
The main goal of the book, though, is to look at the impact of the war on England and France. Its success here is a bit more mixed, mostly because it covers such a wide array of subjects in just north of 100 pages. Things inevitably get skipped and simplified. But that's probably inevitable for a book of such wide-reaching scope, and Allmand does to a nice job exploring changes in taxation and military service, changes in military tactics, motivations for supporting the war, changing perceptions about the war's morality and legality (particularly in the context of non-combatants), and how the war was portrayed in literature. There's also a brief section on the contribution of the war to the growth of national identity, particularly in France. These sections are somewhat informative (and occasionally very interesting) but mostly they read as dry and somewhat detached. Things often remain very nebulous, and changes are often attributed to unidentified forces of change, which isn't all that helpful. Despite this, though, it still serves as a good introduction to what happened in the war and why it was important for the development of France and England.
The main goal of the book, though, is to look at the impact of the war on England and France. Its success here is a bit more mixed, mostly because it covers such a wide array of subjects in just north of 100 pages. Things inevitably get skipped and simplified. But that's probably inevitable for a book of such wide-reaching scope, and Allmand does to a nice job exploring changes in taxation and military service, changes in military tactics, motivations for supporting the war, changing perceptions about the war's morality and legality (particularly in the context of non-combatants), and how the war was portrayed in literature. There's also a brief section on the contribution of the war to the growth of national identity, particularly in France. These sections are somewhat informative (and occasionally very interesting) but mostly they read as dry and somewhat detached. Things often remain very nebulous, and changes are often attributed to unidentified forces of change, which isn't all that helpful. Despite this, though, it still serves as a good introduction to what happened in the war and why it was important for the development of France and England.
December 3, 2023
Pequeño ensayo sobre la Guerra de los Cien Años. Aunque está escrito en un tono académico y algo pesado su contenido no concuerda con el tono y es ligero sin llegar a profundizar en ninguno de los puntos que trata.
Una buena introducción para los que quieran iniciarse en el tema pero mala opción para los que busquen algo más.
Una buena introducción para los que quieran iniciarse en el tema pero mala opción para los que busquen algo más.
April 7, 2022
This was originally published on my website at: https://www.stuartellisgorman.com/blo.... There are plenty of other reviews on it so if you like this one maybe check it out!
Christopher Allmand’s history of the Hundred Years War is the classic college textbook on the subject. The book is (very slightly) older than me and a venerable institution in the study of this somewhat misnamed conflict. I have to confess that up until now I had never actually read it. You see, I came to the Hundred Years War by a slightly weird route. Since my background was in studying weaponry, I didn’t read many grand sweeping political histories of the conflicts where crossbows were used, instead I jumped straight into the nitty gritty of the detail. This is something I have decided to rectify and Christopher Allmand seemed like the best place to start.
It's not often appreciated how difficult writing a succinct history of a massive topic is. Christopher Allmand’s book clocks in at just over 170 pages and in that he has to cover over a hundred years of complex political, cultural, financial, and military history. It is quite the challenge, and he rises to the occasion admirably. While the book can at times be a little dense and a little dry, the amount of information packed in is nothing short of stunning. After finishing the book you will be filled with new knowledge about Anglo-French warfare in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries. I particularly enjoyed the chapter on the Hundred Years War in contemporary literature, discussing how writers and literary figures of the day reacted to what must have seemed like a war without end that was happening around them. That chapter is emblematic of how Allmand doesn’t let the fact that this is a history of a war bog him down in making it just a military history - the history of warfare is so much bigger than just logistics, politics, and battles.
That all having been said – this book is over thirty years old and plenty of new scholarship covering the period of the Hundred Years War has come along since that obviously isn’t reflected in it. For instance, Allmand dismisses out of hand the idea that the English were seeking battle with their chevauchees and instead argues that they were trying to avoid it. In contrast, Clifford Rogers has made extensive arguments detailing how Edward III was actively pursuing a battle-seeking strategy in the Hundred Years War. Now, you might not agree with Clifford Rogers, there are a good few scholars who do not, but it is a major element of modern historiography that is entirely missing from Allmand’s book because it happened after he wrote it.
This is the peril in reading older works of history. I generally try and dissuade people I know who might only read one book on a subject from reading a ‘classic’ in the field. This is not to say Christopher Allmand’s book is bad – it’s still an excellent book – but there is a lot you will miss if this is the only book on the Hundred Years War that you read. In its place I would probably recommend David Green’s The Hundred Years War: A People’s History. David Green’s book is very similar to Allmand’s – both give a high-level overview of the military history of the war at the very start of the book before moving on to more cultural and political themes that underpinned the war. I think Green’s book also has a slightly cleverer structure where he uses case studies from the war for each chapter, but those case studies are laid out chronologically, so not only do you get an overview at the start of the book the it also carries you through the war in a mostly chronological fashion. It just makes it much easier to parse whereas Allmand can be a bit dense and sometimes feels like he’s jumping around a bit as he tries to fit all the information into the book.
If you’re obsessed with the Hundred Years War and you haven’t read Allmand’s book then you should, it’s a classic for a reason and it is worth getting his perspective, but if you’re just looking for one book to read then David Green’s The Hundred Years War: A People’s History is the book you want.
Christopher Allmand’s history of the Hundred Years War is the classic college textbook on the subject. The book is (very slightly) older than me and a venerable institution in the study of this somewhat misnamed conflict. I have to confess that up until now I had never actually read it. You see, I came to the Hundred Years War by a slightly weird route. Since my background was in studying weaponry, I didn’t read many grand sweeping political histories of the conflicts where crossbows were used, instead I jumped straight into the nitty gritty of the detail. This is something I have decided to rectify and Christopher Allmand seemed like the best place to start.
It's not often appreciated how difficult writing a succinct history of a massive topic is. Christopher Allmand’s book clocks in at just over 170 pages and in that he has to cover over a hundred years of complex political, cultural, financial, and military history. It is quite the challenge, and he rises to the occasion admirably. While the book can at times be a little dense and a little dry, the amount of information packed in is nothing short of stunning. After finishing the book you will be filled with new knowledge about Anglo-French warfare in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries. I particularly enjoyed the chapter on the Hundred Years War in contemporary literature, discussing how writers and literary figures of the day reacted to what must have seemed like a war without end that was happening around them. That chapter is emblematic of how Allmand doesn’t let the fact that this is a history of a war bog him down in making it just a military history - the history of warfare is so much bigger than just logistics, politics, and battles.
That all having been said – this book is over thirty years old and plenty of new scholarship covering the period of the Hundred Years War has come along since that obviously isn’t reflected in it. For instance, Allmand dismisses out of hand the idea that the English were seeking battle with their chevauchees and instead argues that they were trying to avoid it. In contrast, Clifford Rogers has made extensive arguments detailing how Edward III was actively pursuing a battle-seeking strategy in the Hundred Years War. Now, you might not agree with Clifford Rogers, there are a good few scholars who do not, but it is a major element of modern historiography that is entirely missing from Allmand’s book because it happened after he wrote it.
This is the peril in reading older works of history. I generally try and dissuade people I know who might only read one book on a subject from reading a ‘classic’ in the field. This is not to say Christopher Allmand’s book is bad – it’s still an excellent book – but there is a lot you will miss if this is the only book on the Hundred Years War that you read. In its place I would probably recommend David Green’s The Hundred Years War: A People’s History. David Green’s book is very similar to Allmand’s – both give a high-level overview of the military history of the war at the very start of the book before moving on to more cultural and political themes that underpinned the war. I think Green’s book also has a slightly cleverer structure where he uses case studies from the war for each chapter, but those case studies are laid out chronologically, so not only do you get an overview at the start of the book the it also carries you through the war in a mostly chronological fashion. It just makes it much easier to parse whereas Allmand can be a bit dense and sometimes feels like he’s jumping around a bit as he tries to fit all the information into the book.
If you’re obsessed with the Hundred Years War and you haven’t read Allmand’s book then you should, it’s a classic for a reason and it is worth getting his perspective, but if you’re just looking for one book to read then David Green’s The Hundred Years War: A People’s History is the book you want.
November 19, 2012
I skim-read this for a paper for a Medieval England university class. It's a very broad study of the war and all aspects of it: military, political, social. It had a textbook dryness to it that left me no desire to read it more closely.
Compared to the other books I've been reading on the Hundred Years War, this book's main advantage is looking at the war from both the English and French perspectives. All the other books on the subject I've come across so far seem to be very focused on the English side.
Compared to the other books I've been reading on the Hundred Years War, this book's main advantage is looking at the war from both the English and French perspectives. All the other books on the subject I've come across so far seem to be very focused on the English side.
June 7, 2012
I used this as a textbook for a class about the Hundred Years' War. It was easy to read and had lots of comprehensive information, I would recommend it to anyone interested in the subject.
February 14, 2022
This is a useful introduction the war, but not as engaging as other books that are out there. It takes a thematic approach to the war, rather than a narrative one, which is useful if you are looking to do research into some aspect of the war, but it's always a little tricky to know what time period you are dealing with (especially since the war lasted for so long). If you're looking for a fun, casual read about the war, try Desmond Seward's The Hundred Years War: The English in France 1337-1453.
September 13, 2021
Muy buen libro para iniciarse en el estudio de la Guerra de los Cien Años. Estudia las causas y el desarrollo acontecimental de la guerra, pero no solo. También la composición de los ejércitos, la evolución de los estados a raíz de la guerra, la relación con la sociedad, la economía, la literatura y la guerra... Es decir, es un estudio completo a la par que sintético. Muy recomendable.
January 17, 2010
Good introduction to the generalities of the war, but fails to live up to its promise on comparing the societies of France and England as affected by it. If by "society" one means the war machine, military science, legal institutions and representative assemblies of the respective countries, then sure. But if by "society" one means the people who actually lived and fought and died there -- then no. For a book that purports to be a history of warfare and its impact on society, this one is almost entirely bereft of actual, you know, people.
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews