EUCOM Battle Knowledge Centers

In this exciting and readable account Colonel Burne recreates the years leading up to Agincourt and its bitter aftermath. He also puts the battle in the perspective of the other important, yet less well known, engagements of the war such as the battles of Verneuil and Fresnay. As with the battles, so with its commanders: Henry V is known to all, but Colonel Burne gives rightful honour to Talbot, Salisbury, Bedford, Chandos and many others. On the French side he details the parts played by Bertrand du Gueschlin and of course Joan of Arc.

On St Crispin's Day, 25 October 1415, Henry V's English army crushed the French in the most famous battle of the Hundred Years' War. The encounter changed the course of the war and made a mark on English and French history that endures to this day.

Agincourt is one of the most evocative names in English military history. Henry V's forces were tired, hungry, and faced a French army three to six times more numerous. However, they possessed several advantages, and English success resulted from the combination of heavily armoured men-at-arms with troops armed with the infamous longbow - the havoc this weapon wreaked was crucial. Using original fifteenth century evidence, including the surviving French battle plan and the accounts of men present in both armies, this title discusses the lead-up to the battle, the tactical dispositions of the two forces and the reasons for the ultimate English success.

Anne Curry's startling new history recreates the campaign and battle from the perspectives of the English and the French. Only now, through an in-depth investigation of the contemporary narrative sources as well as the administrative records, and through a new look at the terrain where the battle was fought, can we come to firmer conclusions on what exactly happened, and why.