The Wars of Edward I I The Leopard eBook David Pilling Matthew Ryan Erica Mills
Download As PDF : The Wars of Edward I I The Leopard eBook David Pilling Matthew Ryan Erica Mills 
‘To whom shall the noble Edward be compared? Perhaps he will be rightly called a leopard…’
Thus the Song of Lewes, composed by a hostile poet, described Edward I of England, remembered as the conqueror of Wales and Hammer of the Scots. By comparing him to a leopard, the poet praised Edward’s pride and fierceness, but criticised his alleged treachery and falsehood.
From his youth Edward divided opinion, and still does to this day.
Few princes had to serve such a tough or prolonged military apprenticeship. Edward’s early difficulties and failures, especially in Wales, forged him into one of the ablest Plantagenet warrior-kings. His alleged inconstancy as a youth saddled him with the reputation of an oath-breaker, and his capture at the Battle of Lewes was a signal humiliation. The spectacular reversal of fortune at Evesham, and swift rise thereafter to commander-in-chief of his father’s armies, proved the making of Edward’s reputation.
Edward owed much of his contemporary fame to his prowess as a general and fighting soldier. This book is the first of a three-part study of his military career, beginning with Edward’s first experience of war as a teenager in the duchy of Gascony, ending in his last doomed march to Scotland, aged sixty-seven. Book One deals with his formative military experiences in Gascony and Wales, the Second Barons’ War and the suppression of the Disinherited, and finally his role in the ill-fated Ninth Crusade.
This is the first non-fiction book by David Pilling, author of the Leader of Battles series, Soldier of Fortune, Caesar’s Sword, Reiver, and many other tales.
The Wars of Edward I I The Leopard eBook David Pilling Matthew Ryan Erica Mills
In this book, David Pilling gives a concise and detailed study of Edward I's military career between 1255 and 1274. By drawing on many original and contemporary sources, he provides us with an objective, balanced and very informative analysis of Edward's wars and his growth and development as a military commander. This book is well-written and easy to follow for everyone, not just the historian. It is also an entertaining read - I particularly enjoyed the many extracts from contemporary chronicles, letters, poems, ... even the small details, like phrases Edward said.A very good book; I look forward to reading the next instalment.
Product details
|
Tags : The Wars of Edward I (I): The Leopard - Kindle edition by David Pilling, Matthew Ryan, Erica Mills. Download it once and read it on your Kindle device, PC, phones or tablets. Use features like bookmarks, note taking and highlighting while reading The Wars of Edward I (I): The Leopard.,ebook,David Pilling, Matthew Ryan, Erica Mills,The Wars of Edward I (I): The Leopard,History Medieval,History Military General
People also read other books :
- Fairyland Mail Marge Hauser 9780615946054 Books
- Shell Games A John Marquez Novel John Marquez Crime Novels edition by Kirk Russell Mystery Thriller Suspense eBooks
- The Dark Tower The Gunslinger Sheemie Tale Issue #2 Robin Furth Richard Isanove Books
- Prophecy and Responsibility Prophetic Equipping Series Graham Cooke 8601417899700 Books
- An African Millionaire Grant Allen 9781438532974 Books
The Wars of Edward I I The Leopard eBook David Pilling Matthew Ryan Erica Mills Reviews
From the outset, Author David Pilling makes his intent clear that he wants to study only an important aspect of Edward I's career his military exploits. With this first volume, Pilling covers Edward's earliest campaigns fighting for his father, King Henry III, against rebels, starting off as a charismatic leader but an immature strategist before coming in to his own as a sound campaigner and a crusader.
Pilling has made his admiration of Edward I clear elsewhere, so I was pleased to see that he was carefully objective in his study of Edward's military career. He praises Edward where such praise is earned, but calls him out on his failings as well. What emerges is a clear picture of a soldier who was not born to the job, but molded into it. Once he had some experience under his belt, Edward became increasingly capable and successful. Pilling does not gloss over the young Edward's faults, observing that his subject's reputation for oath-breaking as a young man was well-deserved on several occasions.
Pilling has an intimate knowledge of the primary and secondary sources regarding Edward's campaigns and draws on these liberally, judging soundly when to hold one up over another and unafraid to disagree with established views when he can provide evidence to the contrary. As such, some of his views may be considered thoughtful and provocative.
Pilling's established skill as a novelist also comes into play for this work of non-fiction because it keeps him to a disciplined fast-moving pace. The analysis is cogent and stated plainly and economically, never getting bogged down in minutia.
Just as in a novel, there are other characters who come into focus beside Pilling's protagonist. One gets a vivid sense of Earls Montfort, Clare and Ferrers and the rebels John Eyvill and Roger Godberd, among others, and they certainly add interest to the story as Edward is matched against men as interesting (and sometimes as flawed) as himself.
What we have here is a detailed military analysis of one of the great warrior kings of the Middle Ages, delivered in spare, precise terms with enough detail to satisfy the historian or the lay reader alike. I will await subsequent volumes with interest.
A Quick and extremely fascinating work by the author here to give us an introduction to the life of Edward the first. If your like me, and you want to know the actual history behind well known historical figures like Edward, then this is the way to go. Reading this, you have to remind yourself it's not fiction, because it is so interesting, it comes off like fiction. One has to wonder, how things would be different today if Edward had succeeded in aiding his Mongol allies and fellow Christians.
David Pilling is one of my favorite historical fiction writers--right up there with James Mace, SJA Turney and the master, Bernard Cornwall. I ordered this book expecting to get the beginning of another great series. Instead, what I got was a dry as dust, recitation of dates, movements, results with some commentary. Arid, boring and all too forgettable.
David Pilling is fantastic at what he does in terms of fiction--here not so much
In this book, David Pilling gives a concise and detailed study of Edward I's military career between 1255 and 1274. By drawing on many original and contemporary sources, he provides us with an objective, balanced and very informative analysis of Edward's wars and his growth and development as a military commander. This book is well-written and easy to follow for everyone, not just the historian. It is also an entertaining read - I particularly enjoyed the many extracts from contemporary chronicles, letters, poems, ... even the small details, like phrases Edward said.
A very good book; I look forward to reading the next instalment.
0 Response to "∎ [PDF] The Wars of Edward I I The Leopard eBook David Pilling Matthew Ryan Erica Mills"
Post a Comment