War and Misrule

Project GutenbergProject Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

2.7

Word count: 248K words
Chapters: 25

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.War and Misrule (1307-1399) by A. Audrey Locke, Kenneth Bell, and S. E. WinboltAuthor: ,Language: English, Class: DA: History: General and Eastern Hemisphere: Great Britain, Ireland, Central Europe, Release Date: May 17, 2016

Editor's review

This short book focuses on England from 1307 to 1399, the period from Edward II to Richard II, when war and misrule were intertwined. Written collaboratively by Locke, Bell, and Winbolt, it is a history reader aimed at general readers, surveying the political and military developments of the period thematically. Its strength is its tight chronological focus and clear lines of argument, placing the early phases of the Hundred Years' War and the conflicts between nobility and crown within a continuous framework; it works well as an introductory supplement to late medieval English history. Because it was written long ago, its narrative stance and historiography bear the marks of its time, and readers should treat it as an overview rather than the latest scholarship. It is best read alongside a chronological table and maps, tracing the relationship between changes of monarch and foreign wars.

Who it's for

A good fit for

History enthusiasts wanting a quick overview of fourteenth-century English politics and war
Beginners needing a thematic overview of late medieval England
English or history students preparing background reading for relevant courses
Readers who like tracing crown–nobility conflict along a timeline

Not a good fit for

Researchers needing the latest scholarship and detailed annotation
Readers expecting social history or everyday-life history
Readers unfamiliar with medieval names and places who do not wish to check them

Reading tips

First make a table of English monarchs reigning from 1307 to 1399 and refer to it as you read.
Keep a map of Britain at hand and mark frequently mentioned places and directions of war.
After each chapter, summarize the main conflicts and outcomes of that phase in three to five sentences.
Keep a critical distance from the book's judgments; check key events against other general histories.

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

Is this a complete general history or a thematic selection?

From the materials, it centers on the period 1307–1399 and is a history reader with a tight chronological focus, not a general history covering all of English history. It suits thematic reading on one period, and some basic framework of medieval English history is best established beforehand.

How difficult is the original English?

As historical narrative aimed at general readers, the prose is usually expository, but it involves many medieval names, places, and titles, making verification burdensome. University-level English reading ability is advisable, along with a willingness to read alongside chronological tables and maps.

Can the facts and views in the book be cited directly?

It should not be treated as an authoritative source for direct citation. The book was written long ago, and its narrative framework reflects the historical writing of its time. For papers or formal writing, check newer academic general histories and specialized studies, using this book as a source of leads rather than a final authority.

Comments

Find this book

This site is an index: you start “Search all sources” in your browser, and the entries it lists all point to third-party sites; please judge their availability yourself.

About the author

Project Gutenberg Author

Project Gutenberg is not a single author but a nonprofit digital library founded by Michael Hart in 1971 and one of the world's earliest free ebook platforms. It relies on volunteers to digitize, proofread, and freely distribute public-domain works and is now operated by the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation. Its collection contains 2,692 works, mainly religious texts, epics, and story collections, including the King James Bible and the Douay-Rheims volumes, the epic Mahabharata, a literal translation of the Arabian Nights, and Danish editions of the Old and New Testaments. Public information is limited, and its nature is closer to a public-interest compiling and dissemination body; these texts are open to the public, easy to consult and circulate, and have had a profound influence on the spread of ebooks and the preservation of public-domain resources.