The Hundred Years War, Volume 5 - (Middle Ages) by Jonathan Sumption

Book Synopsis

The final volume of Jonathan Sumption's epic and prize-winning history of the Hundred Years War

Triumph and Illusion is the final volume of Jonathan Sumption's epic history of the Hundred Years War. It tells the story of the collapse of the English dream of conquest from the opening years of the reign of Henry VI, when the battles of Cravant and Verneuil consolidated their control of most of northern France, until the loss of all their continental dominions except Calais thirty years later.

This sudden reversal of fortune was a seminal event in the history of two of the principal nation-states of western Europe. It brought an end to four centuries of the English dynasty's presence in France, separating two countries whose fortunes had once been closely intertwined. It created a new sense of national identity in both countries. The legacy of these events would influence their divergent fortunes for centuries to come.

Behind the clash of arms stood some of the most remarkable personalities of the age: the Duke of Bedford, the English Regent who ruled much of France from Paris and Rouen; Charles VII of France, underrated in both countries, who patiently rebuilt his kingdom after the disasters of his early years; the captains who populate the pages of Shakespeare--Fastolf, Montagu, Talbot, Dunois; and, above all, the extraordinary figure of Joan of Arc who changed the course of the war in a few weeks at the age of seventeen.

Review Quotes

"The eagerly anticipated final volume in Jonathan Sumption's prize-winning history of the Hundred Years War, one of the great historical undertakings of our age."-- "The Sunday Times"

About the Author

Jonathan Sumption is a former history fellow of Magdalen College, Oxford, and the author of The Hundred Years War, Volume 1: Trial by Battle; The Hundred Years War, Volume 2: Trial by Fire; The Hundred Years War, Volume 3: Divided Houses; and The Hunderd Years War, Volume 4: Cursed Kings, all available from the University of Pennsylvania Press.