The Hollow Crown: A History of Britain in the Late Middle Ages (Penguin History of Britain Book 4)

There is no more haunting, compelling period in Britain's history than the later middle ages. The extraordinary kings - Edward III and Henry V , the great warriors, Richard II and Henry VI , tragic inadequates killed by their failure to use their power, and Richard III , the demon king. The extraordinary events - the Black Death that destroyed a third of the population, the Peasants' Revolt , the Wars of the Roses , the Battle of Agincourt . The extraordinary artistic achievements - the great churches, castles and tombs that still dominate the landscape, the birth of the English language in The Canterbury Tales . For the first time in a generation, a historian has had the vision and confidence to write a spell-binding account of the era immortalised by Shakespeare's history plays. The Hollow Crown brilliantly brings to life for the reader a world we have long lost - a strange, Catholic, rural country of monks, peasants, knights and merchants, almost perpetually at war - but continues to define so much of England's national myth. There is no more haunting, compelling period in Britain's history than the later middle ages. The extraordinary kings - Edward III and Henry V, the great warriors, Richard II and Henry VI, tragic inadequates killed by their failure to use their power, and Richard III, the demon king. The extraordinary events - the Black Death that destroyed a third of the population, the Peasants' Revolt, the Wars of the Roses, the Battle of Agincourt. The extraordinary artistic achievements - the great churches, castles and tombs that still dominate the landscape, the birth of the English language in The Canterbury Tales. For the first time in a generation, a historian has had the vision and confidence to write a spell-binding account of the era immortalised by Shakespeare's history plays. The Hollow Crown brilliantly brings to life for the reader a world we have long lost - a strange, Catholic, rural country of monks, peasants, knights and merchants, almost perpetually at war - but a world which continues to define so much of England's national myth "The late Middle Ages were one of the most dramatic and turbulent periods in Britain's history. This brilliant book re-creates every aspect of life during an era of rebellion, civil war and plague. It ranges over the events that tore the country apart, from the Black Death to the Peasants' Revolt and the Wars of the Roses; the great and terrible kings immortalized in Shakespeare's plays; the texture of ordinary lives, from monks to merchants; as well as the age's rich artistic and literary legacy that continues to enthrall us today. Book jacket."--Jacket Contents: List of Illustrations Preface Editorial Note Maps Introduction 1 Famine and Deposition, 1307–1330 2 Plague and War, 1330–1377 3 An Empty Land and its King, 1377–1399 4 Usurpation and the Challenges to Order, 1399–1422 5 ‘For the world was that time so strange’, 1422–1461 6 Little England and a Little Peace, 1462–1485 Epilogue Genealogical Table An Essay on Further Reading Index There is no more haunting, compelling period in England's history that the later Middle Ages. The extraordinary kings - Edward III, Henry V, Richard II, Henry VI and Richard III. The events - the Black Death and the Peasants' Revolt. The artistic achievements - the great churches, castles and tombs that still dominate the landscape. Originally publ