Yale English Monarchs - Henry V
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Product Details Media: Paperback
Author: C.T. Allmand
Pages: 504
ISBN: 0300073704
Department: Book
Publisher: Yale University Press
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Product Description
Thanks to Shakespeare, Henry V is one of England's best-known monarchs. Or is he? The image of the young king leading his army against the French and his stunning victory at Agincourt are part of English historical tradition. Yet to understand Henry V we need to look at far more than his military prowess.
While Henry was indeed a soldier of exceptional skills, his historical reputation as a king deserves to be set against a broader background of achievement, for he was a leader and a diplomat, an administrator, a keeper of the peace and protector of the Church, a man who worked with and for his people.
This new study, the first full scholarly biography of Henry V, based on the primary sources of both English and French archives and taking into account a great deal of recent scholarship, shows his reign in the broad European context of his day. It concludes that, through his personality and "professional" approach, Henry not only united the country in war but also provided England with a sense of pride and the kind of domestic rule it was so in need of at the time.
Allmand offers far more than a biography of a king. His book is also a rich work of cultural history, with fascinating material on, for example, royal funerals, the reburial of Richard II in Westminster Abbey, the rise of Lollardy in England, and how one governed in the late Middle Ages.
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Customer reviews for "Yale English Monarchs - Henry V"
Good, but not great, July 6, 2006
As mentioned in a previous review, Mr. Allmand's narrative is not strictly chronological. Roughly the first half of the book is the chronology of Henry V's life (yes - Henry dies half way through the book), while the remainder touches on various aspects of royal life and a description of the late 14th and 15th centuries (for example, the second half of the book discusses Henry's military establishment, his relationship with his family, court life, and the Lollard movement).
Personally, I did not care for the bifurcated structure. I believe Allmand could have incorporated the themes from the second half of the book into his chronological life of Henry in a seamless manner. As written, the book is disjointed and can be difficult to follow in some places.
Overall, this is a good read, but not great.
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Medieval CEO, January 11, 2001
As brilliantly portrayed by Mr. Allmand, Henry V personifies not only the fearsome and powerful character of a dark ages monarch, but also that one of a business-sound and strategy-aware leader. Whereas Shakespeare stresses Henry's prowess as a soldier and a hero, Allmand throws in unbeknownst traits: goal-oriented business planner, egalitarian political strategist, tireless academician, merciless warrior and fearing christian. Even though Mr. Allmand's prose teems with passive verbs and endless sentences, sometimes puzzling and even confusing the reader, his book is one of its kind.
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*The* biography on Henry V, July 22, 1999
Prof. Allmand's biography of Henry V is the first coherent work on the subject for our generation. It is also the best bio on Henry V in the past 60-70 years. Allmand gives a fairly bare-bones analysis of King Henry V's brilliant but short life, and then expands in later chapters on several themes such as the royal family, law + order, and the like. Allmand's work is scholarly but does not drown the reader in details. Is a good read and moves along in a coherent manner. If you are looking to learn more about the man Shakespeare called "the Mirror of all Christian Kings" Allmand's deft work is a good place to start and a valuable resource.
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