Fascinating

This was one of those titles that made me impatient for the next opportunity to pick up where I had previously left off. Rather than obscure the bigger picture, the approach taken by the author of forensic examination of day by day details was both fascinating and illuminating. In particular it provided great weight of evidence to dispel both the contemporaneous and subsequent historical propaganda. The work is as much a study of human nature as it is of history. Although concentrated in one year, the commentary during the body of the work and in the epilogue places the events of the year both in the context of events that had led up to it and the role it played as a catalyst for paradigm shifting changes in the years and centuries that would follow it.

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1 person found this helpful

I enjoyed the critical analysis, supported by logical, chronological evidence.

Good narrator, Well presented arguments supported by chronologically presented evidence. Well worth a read if you are interested in this period.

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A day by day history

This is a unique history in my experience. The day by day approach allows for a precision and inclusion of seemingly mundane facts that in fact become quite important in the author's analysis.
This is I consider a balanced, warts and all account which allows us to see a deeply flawed character who achieved more than could be imagined.

but then that is humanity. capable of great achievement and great flaws in the same person.

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Mainstream history for people who like detail

At the start, I found myself wondering if I'd get into this book. By the end I wanted more history in this format.

The day by day style has it's dull moments, mainly at the beginning, but its strength is that it gives an extremely honest account of history. The attention to detail sheds brighter light upon historical figures from this incredible year. It builds a picture of Henry V almost free of the bias of nationalism.

This is history for people who want to know EXACTLY (as close as we can get) what happened.

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Excellent audio

To do history day by day is a strange approach. But it works thanks to the enormous amount of contemporary evidence. It is also helped by a balancing narrative of the Council of Constance and the surprising role England played in it.

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Quite different

This book has a different feel than many other historical books I've read or listened to. It's laid out almost like a diary, going date by date, building up to the Battle of Agincourt and the aftermath. I quite liked this approach, it built up the anticipation. I've read a few of Ian Mortimer's books and they never disappoint. There has clearly been a lot of research into this book and the author knows his subject very well. The narration is very good.

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Simply brilliant.

No author recreates life in the medieval period quite as vividly as Ian Mortimer. His books encourage us to think about history in new ways, and the format of this book is an examination of the person and policy of Henry V, through a diarist approach to 1415 - the year of the battle of Agincourt.

Entertaining and thought provoking in equal measure.

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Great content

Great content and you really do come to understand the king not just throughout the year but his reign. In parts the language comes across as arrogant when arguing his position against other historians which can take away from the focus of the book.

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Henry V reassessed

I along with a lot of people always considered Henry V to be an English national hero. This book has made me reconsider who he was and although there are still things to admire, this book shows his flaws and weaknesses.

I would recommend this book to help you understand the man and not the legend

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excellent

thoroughly enjoyed this different approach- such minutiae of everyday makes the dramatic and large scale elements of the events around Agincourt really come alive. I also enjoyed the balanced, yet scholarly assertions of the author, who applies a more contextual view of Henry V to humanise a flawed human being without justifying and pardoning his flaws. I imagine Mortimer would have been dealt with harshly for his heresy by Henry.
Good reading as well.

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