Armies and Warfare in the Middle Ages: The English Experience

by Michael Prestwich

Challenging many common assumptions about the glamour of medieval warfare, this highly readable history recreates the real war experience of thirteenth- and fourteenth-century England. Filled with anecdotes and illustrations, it examines how English medieval armies fought, how men were recruited, how the troops were fed, supplied, and deployed, what new weapons were developed, and what structure was set in place for military command.

Genres: History, Medieval, Medieval History, British Literature, War, Nonfiction, Military History

352 pages, Paperback

First published April 24, 1996

About the author

Michael Charles Prestwich OBE (born 30 January 1943) is an English historian, specialising on the history of medieval England, in particular the reign of Edward I. He is retired, having been Professor of History at Durham University, and Head of the Department of History until 2007.

Reviews

[Jonathan · Rating 5 out of 5]

In recent years, the discipline of military history has moved away from the study of battles and campaigns and has concentrated more on the role of the military in society, and just how those societies organized themselves for war. Michael Prestwich's fine book is an example of this approach; a thorough survey of how English armies were organized, supplied, led and how they fought in the 13th, 14th and beginning of the 15th centuries (up to the campaigns and battles of Henry V). The chapters are thematic, covering different types of soldiers, castles and siege warfare, chivalry, naval warfare, strategy, intelligence and other topics. While not exactly a ripping great read, Prestwich does display occasional flashes of dry wit, and the book is thoughtfully endowed with various period illustrations, maps and charts. If you've a hankering to understand the nuts and bolts of Medieval warfare, or to know what it was like for the English soldier when he invaded Scotland or fought at Crecy, this is a good place to start.

[Mark · Rating 3 out of 5]

Academic style history of English warfare, including analysis of payroll records and similar approaches to understand what was going on. Relatively little narrative history but quite readable.
Memorable to me mainly for the argument that English longbowmen often had mounts (though they fought on foot of course).

[Ellis Knox · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is as good an introduction to medieval warfare as I have found. Oman, Contamine and the others are good for strategy and tactics and a bit on logistics, but Prestwich pays good attention to all areas of the military, from the details of combat to how soldiers got paid. It's only weakness is that it is specifically on medieval England, but much of what you will read here is readily transferrable to other countries. This will be the one I recommend to any of my students.

[Wbenetti · Rating 3 out of 5]

I learned that it i'm lucky to have been born now instead of during the medieval ages. The author paints a picture not of glory and cavalry charges, but of armies huddling in the mud, starving, unable to actually engage their enemy in battle because the enemy was avoiding the army at all costs. Read this if you want to feel good about having indoor plumbing and electrically lit light sources.

[Nicola Bugg · Rating 4 out of 5]

I didn't actually finish this book- not because it is not well written, but because it's no longer an area of history that I am interested in- and life is too short to read books that you are not entirely enthusiastic about!