Henry V

Henry V: The Astonishing Rise of England's Greatest Warrior King

Non-Fiction, Biography & Memoir, Literary Biography & Memoir, British History, History & Politics, Medieval Britain
Hardback Published on: 12/09/2024
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Bookseller Reviews

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Henry V
Captivating biography!
Using the introduction to describe the memorable moment of a surgeon about to try and remove an arrowhead from a young Henry’s face immediately grips you -... READ MORE
Chelsea at Lichfield
Henry V
A fast paced, thrilling, and informative new look at Henry V’s life
“The game's afoot: Follow your spirit, and upon this charge Cry ‘God for Harry, England, and Saint George!’ “ 4.5⭐️ This was my first Dan Jones boo... READ MORE
V at Windsor

Synopsis

Henry V reigned over England for only nine years and four months, and died at the age of just 35, but he looms over the landscape of the late Middle Ages and beyond. The victor of Agincourt was remembered as the acme of kingship, a model to be closely imitated by his successors. William Shakespeare deployed Henry V as a study in youthful folly redirected to sober statesmanship. In the dark days of World War II, Henry’s victories in France were presented by British filmmakers as exemplars for a people existentially threatened by Nazism. Churchill called Henry ‘a gleam of splendour in the dark, troubled story of medieval England’, while for one modern medievalist, Henry was, quite simply, ‘the greatest man who ever ruled England’.

For Dan Jones, Henry is one of the most intriguing characters in all medieval history, but one of the hardest to pin down. He was a hardened, sometimes brutal, warrior, yet he was also creative and artistic, with a bookish temperament. He was a leader who made many mistakes, who misjudged his friends and family members, yet always seemed to triumph when it mattered. As king, he saved a shattered country from economic ruin, put down rebellions and secured England’s borders; in foreign diplomacy, he made England a serious player once more. Yet through his conquests in northern France, he sowed the seeds for three generations of calamity at home, in the form of the Wars of the Roses.

Dan Jones’s life of Henry V stands out for the generous amount of space it allots to the critical first 26 years of his life before he became king. Both standalone biography and a completion of Dan’s sequence of English medieval histories that began with The Plantagenets and The Hollow Crown, Henry V is a thrilling and unmissable life of England’s greatest king from our best-selling medieval historian.

  • Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing PLC
  • ISBN: 9781804541937
  • Number of pages: 464
  • Dimensions: 234 x 153 mm

Customer Reviews

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Henry V
Henry V, in-depth insight into his life.
Henry V ruled England but also fought to rule France as well. This historical biography will detail his life before and after he became King, up to his dea... READ MORE
Julie Friar
Henry V
A fantastic and fresh perspective into the life of Henry V
One thing you can count on with Dan Jones books, and a reason I love them so much, is their readability. You truly feel like you’re having a conversation w... READ MORE
Rebecca Kent
Henry V
Compelling, fast-moving and readable
I really enjoyed this book. By putting everything into the present tense, the author brings a fast-moving and relatable story to life. He paints a vivid ... READ MORE
Canuck Abroad
Henry V
A king of battle
Really enjoying this book. I've read books on Agincourt before but they only dealt with the battle. This is a story of his life. I knew about the arrow he... READ MORE
Dave