Poitiers

Belloc, Hilaire, 1870-1953Project Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

4.0

Word count: 127K words
Chapters: 13

Summary

Project Gutenberg was the first provider of free electronic books, or eBooks. Michael Hart, founder of Project Gutenberg, invented eBooks in 1971 and his memory continues to inspire the creation of eBooks and related technologies today. Poitiers by Hilaire Belloc. Author: Belloc, Hilaire, 1870-1953. Language: English. Class: DC: History: General and Eastern Hemisphere: France, Andorra, Monaco. Release Date: May 1, 2010

Editor's review

Poitiers continues Belloc's approach to writing military history, recounting another major battle of the Hundred Years' War in a concise style. The book focuses on the battlefield situation, the decisions of both sides, and the course of the fighting; the narrative is compact and well suited to grasping the outline of the battle in a short time. Its value lies not in detailed scholarship but in offering a highly readable classic narrative framework that helps readers understand Crécy and Poitiers within the same thread of the war. As a public-domain ebook, it is easy to obtain and convenient to use alongside maps and chronologies. Readers should note that it was written long ago, so its views and materials bear the marks of their time, and the original English poses some difficulty. It is suitable as an introduction to the topic, not as a substitute for modern research.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Readers who have read Crécy and want to continue with later battles of the Hundred Years' War
Military history enthusiasts interested in the course of medieval battles and battlefield decisions
Students and reading group members who need a short public-domain English text for topic reading
General history readers who prefer classic narrative over dense scholarship

Not a good fit for

Professional researchers who need the latest scholarship and detailed comparison of historical sources
Readers with weak English who want a Chinese annotated edition
Readers who want a systematic overview of the whole Hundred Years' War from a single short book

Reading tips

Read it after Crécy to trace the early campaigns of the Hundred Years' War in chronological order.
Mark key events and figures before and after the Battle of Poitiers on a chronology as you read.
After finishing, retell the course of the battle in one paragraph to check whether you have grasped the main thread.
Compare it with relevant chapters in modern general histories to note similarities and differences in the accounts.

About the publisher

Project Gutenberg United States · Founded in 1971

Project Gutenberg is a digital publishing project focused on public-domain ebooks. Its publishing direction centers on classic literary works whose copyright has expired, covering genres such as poetry, drama, fiction, and epic. Representative books include Lyrical Ballads by Wordsworth and Coleridge, Proust's Du côté de chez Swann, Shakespeare's Macbeth and The Complete Works of William Shakespeare, Homer's The Iliad, Dante's La Divina Comèdia: Purgatòri, Cervantes's The History of Don Quixote, Volume 2, and Grahame's The Wind in the Willows. Its author resources consist mainly of classic Western writers such as Wordsworth, Proust, Shakespeare, Homer, Dante, Cervantes, Grahame, and Tolstoy. Its publishing feature is the provision of freely accessible ebooks in EPUB and Kindle formats; it is not a traditional publisher, and publicly available information is limited.

FAQ

How is this book related to Crécy?

Both are short books by Belloc on battles of the Hundred Years' War, dealing with Crécy and Poitiers respectively. They can be read in chronological order to help readers understand the two battles within the same thread of the war, but each stands on its own and they need not be read together.

Are the book's details about the battle reliable?

The book was written long ago and is a classic narrative rather than a work of modern scholarship, so its details and views bear the marks of their time. Treat it as an introductory framework and check key figures and judgments against modern historical research; it should not be relied on alone as the sole source.

Is it suitable for exam preparation or classroom presentations?

It can serve as a starting point to quickly establish the outline of the battle and its narrative thread. Exams or presentations usually require fuller background and multiple sources, however, so supplement it with general history chapters, maps, and modern research rather than relying on a single early short book.

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About the author

Belloc, Hilaire, 1870-1953 Author

Hilaire Belloc (1870–1953) was an English writer whose prolific output spanned poetry, history, and travel writing. The library holds 26 of his works, covering a wide range of subjects: travel essays such as The Path to Rome, which records the sights and reflections of a walking pilgrimage; humorous verse for children, including Cautionary Tales for Children, The Bad Child's Book of Beasts, and A Moral Alphabet, known for their playful language and sharp satire; and historical studies of battles such as Crécy, Poitiers, Malplaquet, and Tourcoing, which emphasize narrative and detail. His style is distinctive, often blending humor, epigram, and personal judgment. Public information is limited, so biographical details are omitted, yet these works already show his ease across genres and the enduring appeal of his writing.