Agincourt: Henry V and the Battle That Made England

Book Description

From a master historian comes an astonishing chronicle of life in medieval Europe and the battle that altered the course of an empire.

Although almost six centuries old, the Battle of Agincourt still captivates the imaginations of men and women on both sides of the Atlantic. It has been immortalized in high culture (Shakespeare's Henry V) and low (the New York Post prints Henry's battle cry on its editorial page each Memorial Day). It is the classic underdog story in the history of warfare, and generations have wondered how the English--outnumbered by the French six to one--could have succeeded so bravely and brilliantly. Drawing upon a wide range of sources, eminent scholar Juliet Barker casts aside the legend and shows us that the truth behind Agincourt is just as exciting, just as fascinating, and far more significant. She paints a gripping narrative of the October 1415 clash between outnumbered English archers and heavily armored French knights. But she also takes us beyond the battlefield into palaces and common cottages to bring into vivid focus an entire medieval world in flux. Populated with chivalrous heroes, dastardly spies, and a ferocious and bold king, AGINCOURT is as earthshaking as its subject--and will confirm Juliet Barker's status as both a historian and a storyteller of the first rank.

Customer Reviews:

Approachable History.......2007-09-15

Juliet Barkers' Agincourt: Henry V and the Battle that Made England is a one of those rare history books where the characters and context all come to life. Immensely readable and highly informative I recommend this book to anyone wishing to know more about the history of England and the English speaking peoples. The only negative comment would be that, on occasion, there is too much detail about minutia, usually minor characters. However, that is just a quibble. Overall I highly recommend this book.

Agincourt: Henry V and the Battle that Made England.......2007-06-07

This is a fabulous read. Showing a high degree of respect to her sources, Barker treats the subject with integrity - provides the historical facts while educating the reader on conflicting conclusions of other historians. She also shows how contemporary reactions differ from a more modern reading of history.

This book also provides good insights into dynastic change in England primarily, but also in France.

I couldn't believe how hard it was to put the book down.

History the way it should be written.......2007-06-04

This is an outstanding book that manages to do the seemingly impossible: It's a scholarly, heavily annotated study that is also fast-paced and exciting. It's literally a stay-up-late page-turner.

The book does require some "unlearning." That is, what most people know about the Battle of Agincourt is based on vague memories of Shakespeare's play or film versions. The real story is actually better and more exciting than those. The battle was not fought in isolation; Barker's book allows us to see and feel the complexities of the social, political, and military situation in Europe at the time of the battle, and these complexities require some unlearning of what most of us think we know about that time.

The political situation at the time was hellishly complex, and at the time of the battle, Henry V knew for a fact that he was not only King of England, but King of France, too. Of course, since his father had deposed Rickard II to become King, his claim rested on shaky ground. In addition, the King of France knew for a fact that he was King, though France was plunging into civil war at the time over that claim. In addition, everyone involved was convinced that God was on his side. In short, the pot was boiling when Henry V decided to invade France to assert his claim. The Battle of Agincourt was the culmination of the struggle.

The book is divided into thirds. The first third details-- and I mean DETAILS-- the background, describing the lines of succession, the political and economic institutions of the day, and the basis of chivalry. The second third details the battle, both in military terms and in human ones. This is one of the most vivid accounts of what it must have been like to be in combat then that I have ever read. The final third details the aftermath and the long-term effects of the battle.

Barker is an academic historian, and she is very careful to offer sources for her conclusions, particularly when they differ from popular thinking. But she doesn't let this get in the way of keeping her story moving. It's actually easy to forget that this is serious history, but the annotations are always there for the checking.

The one thing that would have improved the book for me would be more and better maps. The two that are included just don't have sufficient detail. The genealogy charts for the British and French royal families could have been more detailed, too. It can be a challenge to keep track of the various dukes, barons, etc.

This is an outstanding book. It will reward someone engaged in serious historical studies and someone who just wants to read more about the battle after seeing Kevin Branagh's Henry V. I recommend it very highly.

Excellent read.......2007-02-21

I cannot begin to imagine the difficulty in writing history that can be read easily. Authors who are able to do this have a special gift. I have bought many books over the years that are dry as dust and hard to chew. The author of this book does an excellent job in making the nitty gritty details stay alive and the pages easy to turn.

Agincourt: A great medieval battle in France leads Henry V of England to greatness.......2006-10-20

Agincourt is the lastest book by noted Bronte biographer Juliet Barker. Barker received her Ph.D. from Oxford in Medieval History; needless to say she is an expert on Agincourt!
Henry V (reigned 1413-1422) was the greatest warrior king in British history. His victory over his French enemies at Agincourt on Oct. 25, 1415
led to an overwhelming victory. High ransom paid for French hostages added to Henry's coffers; the fame of England's victory was celebrated
in minstrely, poems, songs and most famously in Shakespeare's history play Henry V. (Later made into a famous film by Laurence Olivier in 1944 as the British along with their allies were planning for the D-Day landings in France.
Barker is excellent in limning the characters of such renowned figures as Rauol de Gaucourt the gallant French soldier who defended the town of Harfleur until it was forced to surrender. He was later imprisoned in England. Henry V comes across as a pious, good king who could exert cruelty and diplomacy in equal measures in the governing of his kingdom (he considered himself to be king of both England and France),
The book details how a medieval army was paid, fed, quartered; taught the arts of war and chilvary and what weapons were utilized (the English archers won the battle as they slaughtered the French attacking them in a rainy, misty dawn across muddy fields). The English had about 6,000 troops but triumphed over the vast French forces facing them.
The French were divided by hatreds and factions being poorly led. The English troops were led by Henry a military genius and charismatic leader.
Juliet Barker has done a fine job making this 600 year battle come alive for the reader.

Agincourt: Henry V and the Battle That Made England

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Agincourt: Henry V and the Battle That Made England
Juliet Barker
Manufacturer: Back Bay Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0316015040

Book Description

Waged almost six centuries ago, the Battle of Agincourt still captivates. It is the classic underdog story, and generations have wondered how the English--outmanned by the French six to one--could have succeeded so bravely and brilliantly. Drawing on a wide range of sources, Juliet Barker paints a gripping narrative of the October 1415 clash between the outnumbered English archers and the heavily armored French knights. Populated with chivalrous heroes, dastardly spies, and a ferocious and bold king, AGINCOURT is as earthshaking as its subject--and confirms Juliet Barker's status as both a historian and a storyteller of the first rank.

Book Description

This unique oral history presents the Japanese American saga as told by those who lived through it. Frank Chin details the lives of first and second generation Japanese Americans before World War II with a rich kaleidoscope of images drawn from interviews, popular songs, novels, and newspaper articles. The heart of his story is the tragedy that followed the bombing of Pearl Harbor, when Japanese American citizens lost their homes and property and were forced into internment camps. The author deftly weaves interviews and testimony from the Japanese American Citizen's League (JACL) with opposing, in-depth conversations with those who resisted the JACL's support for U.S. policy. This shameful episode in American history resonates deeply today as we witness similar erosions of civil rights in the name of wartime security.

Born in the USA: A Story of Japanese America, 1889-1947.

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Born in the USA: A Story of Japanese America, 1889-1947.
Frank 0924Chin
Manufacturer: see notes for publisher info
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000M4DPUQ

Book Description

Finite reductive groups and their representations lie at the heart of goup theory. After representations of finite general linear groups were determined by Green (1955), the subject was revolutionized by the introduction of constructions from l-adic cohomology by Deligne-Lusztig (1976) and by the approach of character-sheaves by Lusztig (1985). The theory now also incorporates the methods of Brauer for the linear representations of finite groups in arbitrary characteristic and the methods of representations of algebras. It has become one of the most active fields of contemporary mathematics.

The present volume reflects the richness of the work of experts gathered at an international conference held in Luminy. Linear representations of finite reductive groups (Aubert, Curtis-Shoji, Lehrer, Shoji) and their modular aspects Cabanes Enguehard, Geck-Hiss) go side by side with many related structures: Hecke algebras associated with Coxeter groups (Ariki, Geck-Rouquier, Pfeiffer), complex reflection groups (BrouÃ©-Michel, Malle), quantum groups and Hall algebras (Green), arithmetic groups (VignÃ©ras), Lie groups (Cohen-Tiep), symmetric groups (Bessenrodt-Olsson), and general finite groups (Puig). With the illuminating introduction by Paul Fong, the present volume forms the best invitation to the field.

Book Description

Award-winning guide to ecologically-sound landscapes!
The first edition of Frederick Steiner's The Living Landscape: An Ecological Approach to Landscape Planning, won a coveted ASLA merit award. This revised Second Edition's strong design-oriented approach meets the needs of today's professionals, focusing on how to create a plan and explains each major step with examples from various localities. The new edition links each step to current planning practice and to new theory in landscape ecology and sustainable development.You'll find:

More than 20 case studies covering urban, suburban, rural, domestic and international environments
Scores of checklists and step-by-step procedures
Details for conducting environmental impact assessments
Full coverage of zoning, land use, and other regulatory issues
Much more

Customer Reviews:

The Living Landscape.......2002-10-14

The Living Landscape has made a lasting contribution to ecological planning through its detailed documentation of this planning process and thoughtful comparison of the process's application in case studies. Dr. Steiner demonstrates in his book that ecological planning is just not a static plan-making process, but rather a dynamic process that requires consistent and meaningful input from stakeholders. In addition, he sees plan-making as a process that has implications for different scales of the environment, from the nation to the neighborhood. He stresses that the ecological planning process does not end when the plan is finished, but rather the process continues through the linkage of planning concepts to physical design. Given the strengths of this book, it is an essential volume for the library of any professional or student in the disciplines of the built environment and environmental management.

A Unique and Useful Contribution.......2002-05-06

It is a rare planning book that outlines a detailed process for guiding landscape change in a deliberate and ecologically sound manner. The Living Landscape accomplishes this in a robust, clear and convincing way. The second edition improves on the first by including more landscape design information, updating case studies, and deepening the planning method (for instance, by including more on the use of Geographic Information Systems). The liberal use of cases is a strong asset of the book; each step in the ecological planning process is illustrated and explained by way of 'stories' from real places around North America. The Living Landscape is useful reading for students and practitioners in landscape architecture, architecture, environmental planning and natural resource management.

From a landscape for living to a living landscape.......2002-05-05

The second edition of The Living Landscape has came out nine years after the first. The first, in fact, was published in 1991, it received an ASLA Merit Award for Communications in 1993, and then it was translated into Italian in 1994, where it was very well received among scholars and students of planning as well as in the schools of architecture throughout the country.
The very first difference between the two editions is the publishing series. The first did not form part of a series while the second is now in the McGraw-Hill "Professional Architecture" series. The Professional Architecture series is devoted to giving helpful tools to practitioners who are on the field and The Living Landscape provides a very wide set of how-to and why-to-do-it instructions, where-to-keep information, and best practices examples to learn from, organized around an eleven-step Ecological Planning Model. I consider The Living Landscape a refined, high-level professional handbook devoted to enhance the toolbox of any present or future planning practitioners.
The Living Landscape II edition, as was the first, is built around a scheme of eleven steps called "Ecological Planning Method" briefly presented in the first chapter and used as a step-by-step pattern to guide readers into the organization of a planning process. The "Ecological Planning Method" is a framework for presenting information to decision-makers, and to display "a common language, a common method among all those concerned about social equity and ecological parity" (p. 9). The approach to planning presented by Steiner is innovative for two reasons. The first is the incorporation of ecology in planning - briefly "the use of biophysical and sociocultural information to suggest opportunities and constraints for decision making about the use of the landscape" (pp. 9-10). The second reason is the author's stress on the citizen's involvement in almost every step of his method. These two issues, even if they are the prime themes of the book, are prudently embedded into the body of the full text. Ecology and citizen involvement are the leitmotif of the entire book which is composed of a precise combination of techniques and tools presentation, useful references to literature, light - but effective - revocations of the theoretical frameworks on the issues, and application examples deriving from real plans or projects.
The eleven-step Ecological Planning Model goes from the identification of problems and opportunities (step 1) and the establishment of goals (2) to inventories and analysis at regional (3) and local level (4). It proceeds with the realization of detailed studies (5) and the definition of planning concepts (6). The landscape plan (7) follows and it is directly assessed and criticized by citizens (8), who are involved and educated along the whole process-phasing. Design exploration (9) comes next and the study of the implementation of the plan and projects (10) precedes the administration (11) that is the last step of the model. The Ecological Planning Model is linear in its descriptions (the book chapters - excluding the introduction and the conclusion - are devoted to deepen every single step, with some minor exceptions), but the steps are strongly interactive. In the graphic scheme of the model (p. 11), solid and dashed arrows between the steps emphasize the necessity and the opportunity of feedback and retroactions in order to monitor the previous results.
Citizen involvement is the center of the model. Almost every step is addressed to inhabitants and a systematic educational and citizen involvement effort occurs throughout the process. The model, between the last step - administration - and the first - problem and/or opportunity identification -, presents a dashed arrow in order to accent that problems and opportunities facing the region and the goals addressed that may be altered by time, occurrences and circumstances.
Compared to the first edition, the structure of the Ecological Planning Model and of the book contents remains unchanged in the second, but the book has some 120 more pages. Graphic design of tables and figures has been enhanced - a four-color page section was added to present the GIS maps of the Desert View Tri-Villages Area (Arizona) and of the Camp Pendleton study area (California), two of the many new examples used along the entire book. New photographs, mostly authored by Steiner, follow the entire text. Sources and references have been updated including recent books and articles on the matters. New examples, as said before, have been included in this edition to present more recent application of techniques and tools explained and illustrated along the text. The final glossary, one of the many useful tools of the book, has been enlarged with 46 new entries bringing the total to 350.

Ecological plannnig has a future with this effort ........2002-04-14

I am a graduate student in landscape ecological planning. I would recommend Dr. Steiner's book for students, professionals and the lay leaders interested in making a difference in their community. The idea of planning is sometimes hard to grasp by communities that are ruled by economics and development,not ecology. Dr. Steiner shows us step by step how to include ecology into communities and how that may give us other alternatives that we may not have considered.

The use of case studies in this book enhances the practical application of ecological planning in real world situations.

I would recommend this book for anyone interested in ecology, planning or being part of your community's future.

Book fails to make the connection.......2002-01-23

I picked up a copy of "the living landscape" at the local library thinking I was on to something interesting. Instead, I found the book to be a rehash of old, simple ideas under the cloak of a "sexy", progressive title. I am a practicing environmental planner and must admit that I was even fooled by the picture on the cover--How in the world is a linear mono-cultural hedgerow of trees that line an walkway even remotely a just symbol of "ecological planning"? The picture seems to satisfy the landscape architect's need to have order-- Ecology is anything but linear or orderly.

Book Description

This book is a model of applied ecological economics. The author presents an accessible introduction to the subject while at the same time broadening its theoretical basis by introducing a post-positivist, participatory method. He then applies this theoretical framework to case studies in biodiversity conservation, drawn from around the world and a range of different ecosystems.
It makes an ideal textbook for students of ecological economics and an excellent introduction for scientists and environmentalists needing to understand the role of economics in ecology and conservation

Asian Perceptions of Nature: A Critical Approach (Nordic Institute of Asian Studies)

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Asian Perceptions of Nature: A Critical Approach (Nordic Institute of Asian Studies)
Ole Bruun
Manufacturer: RoutledgeCurzon
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

General | Popular Economics | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books

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ASIN: 0700703012

An ecological approach to conservation (Burgess education series)

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An ecological approach to conservation (Burgess education series)
Russell L Hamm
Manufacturer: Burgess Pub. Co
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding

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Investing in Natural Capital: The Ecological Economics Approach To Sustainability (International Society for Ecological Economics)

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Investing in Natural Capital: The Ecological Economics Approach To Sustainability (International Society for Ecological Economics)

Manufacturer: Island Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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Sustainable Development | Economics | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books

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Book Description

Investing in Natural Capital presents the results of a workshop held following the second biannual conference of the International Society for Ecological Economics. It focuses on the relation of human development to natural capital, and the relation of natural capital to environmental processes.

Book Description

The extensive destruction of wetlands across Europe represents a significant loss of biodiversity along with its related economic, cultural, ethical and scientific benefits. This volume addresses the critical issues surrounding this environmental change process, employing a range of analytical methods drawn from a variety of disciplines which bridge the social and natural science divide.

The authors begin by exploring the various methodological approaches to the analysis of the causes and consequences of wetland loss in Europe. The findings reveal that a formal decision-support process can be defined which can assist in the search for a more sustainable approach to wetland management. The methods and tools advocated are interdisciplinary and require coordinated action by experts from a variety of different fields. The authors move on to present a series of case studies from which a number of general conclusions can be drawn. In particular, they identify conflicts concerning use, value and interest groups to be the most common in the context of wetland management versus development. Consequently, they argue that scientific analysis requires support from the social sciences in order to better understand and implement more participatory approaches to environmental management.

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