This was a fascinating look at an important battle. The explanation of the Hundred Years’ War and it’s origins was really edifying. It was great to re-examine this battle and retell for a new audience. I e joyed getting clarity on the importance of this battle in the larger context of the war.

An interesting examination of the battle of Crecy and the events leading up to it- events meaning several hundred years of French-English political wrangling over territory leading up to the Hundred Years War and then covering the basics of the War up to Crecy. The author resists the urge to detail every aspect of the Hundred Years War before Crecy and sticks to what he believes is important to show the reader why Crecy happened and why it happened the way it happened. The political, economic, and marital explanations building up to the Hundred Years War were impressively as well written and cohesive an explanation as I think anyone could expect considering how expansive a subject it really is. While I wasn't really up for all of the names of the terrain and why that should mean what the author was arguing it should mean I did find his argument for a new location of the actual Crecy battlefield more interesting than I expected to find it and I will be interested to read more in the future if there are any archaeological surveys done based on this theory.

Overall an interesting new approach to some of the entrenched beliefs about a legendary battle and its heroes, well written and with excellent research to back up the arguments.

I received an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review

The Battle of Crechy in 1346 is one of the most famous of The Hundred Years War and has been written about time and time again. It created heroes and legends and has ingrained itself into the collective consciousness of the English as the epitome of David overcoming Goliath. Yet in this book, Michael Livingston questions all that we thought we knew of the battle and perhaps most importantly of all; how even the accepted location may be wrong.

I knew very little on the subject of Crechy before reading this book; at most I could name the opposing sides and roughly when it was. The reason I wanted to read it was because my other half studied History at Oxford and The Late Middle Ages was his specialist subject. When he inevitably started his next lecture (sorry - discussion) on the topic I thought it would be nice if I had some of my own knowledge so I wouldn’t glaze over (sorry - become lost).

I always worry that historical non fiction can be a little dry, full of facts and figures with not much else. Thankfully this wasn’t the case here. Livingston has a way of writing which engages you and the beginning of the book was more like the opening to a novel. Wars and battles don’t exist in a vacuum and the author has made a concerted effort to describe the lead up to these events, going right back to 1066 and the Battle of Hastings. I’m grateful he did because this background information is vital to understanding how The Hundred Years War came into being. And I knew very little of it.

Everything is laid out in such great detail that I was even able to follow Edward III’s army on a map, from where they landed in France, right through to where they ended up fighting. The research and knowledge that has gone into this book was truly remarkable but it never felt like I was drowning in facts or getting lost in the detail. The actual battle itself doesn’t cover as much of the book as I expected but that didn’t bother me at all and I really enjoyed the whole reading experience. Now when I’m asked who my favourite Mediaeval Knight was (and yes, I have genuinely been asked that question) I might just be able to answer it, or at least give him a name or two.

This book spends more time on what happened before the battle of Crecy and the sources used to document the book than on the battle. I understand it’s important for readers to understand the history and the context around the battle, but anyone reading this book is already familiar with the history of the Plantagenets, the 100 years war, and is more interested in what happened at Crecy than other battles in the campaign.

My thanks to NetGalley and the publisher Ospery Publishing for a copy of this military history.

During the first decade of the Hundred Years' War, on August 26, 1346 English and French led troops met in battle in Northern France. King Edward III was at the head of the English troops, which defeated roundly the forces of French with King Philip VI as their leader. The French lost a a significant amount of nobles, both to death and ransom, and many, many others whose names are not known nor remembered. This notable victory reverberated through European history effecting countries, trade and growth for years afterward. The Battle of Crécy as it came to be known has become one of the most studied and written about military engagements in history. And yet, according to Michael Livingston in his new book Crécy: Battle of Five Kings most of what might be written and stated as fact about the battle might be wrong.

June 1346. An English army lands in the Cotentin Peninsula and with little resistance begins to sack and pillage its way through France, closing with Paris. The troops are a motley band, robbing anything they can, breaking surrender agreements, and shipping as much back to England as possible. What can't be toted, is burned. Heading North the British plan to meet with a Flemish force advancing also into France. When plans change due to it being war, the English forces through superior engineering rebuild bridges, cross fords and escape the French long enough to prepare defensive positions by near Crécy. The French, who outnumber the English invaders attack, and are slaughtered. These are known facts, but after this is gets a little difficult to be sure of anything.

Using sources from ouside of what has been used before, poem, works translated from Italian, and good old walking the field, Professor Livingston has a few questions. Was the location of the battle as stated, really where it happened? How man men died that day? Many famous Kings were to fight, and in some case die. What were their true fates? Professor Livingston explains all of this walking the field, using satellite imagery. The writing is very good telling the story up to the battle, and filling out the story with new information and how it was acquired, with numerous source notes, and maps to back up his new information.

Books like this make it easy to understand how fake news and misinformation, and simple mistakes can arise, and be considered fact. Truth is hard, sometimes a story or just nodding along to someone's extrapolations is easier then going, well that sounds dumb. A very interesting book, both on histroy and how history is sometimes decided, and the work it entails. Recommended for students of the era, people with interest in the Hundred Years' War, military history, and those that enjoy a very good nonfiction tale.

This is a bit troubling to me. I’ve read much about this but thought here I would find maybe something new??

I love reading this time period and Michael Livingston does a great job bringing The Battle of Crécy to life. It was fascinating. Five stars.