Edward III

the long version

Edward III lived through bloody and turbulent times. His father was deposed by his mother and her lover when he was a teenager; a third of England's population was killed by the Black Death during his reign and the Hundred Years War with France began under his leadership. Yet Edward managed to rule England for 50 years, and was viewed as a paragon of kingship by both his contemporaries and later generations: the triumphant victor of the battles of Sluys and Crécy; the founder of the Order of the Garter; his court the most famous center of chivalry in Europe. Jonathan Sumption's gripping new account of Edward's rise and fall brings to life a figure who was impulsive and warmongering, but also companionable, generous and addicted to practical jokes. He thirsted too much for glory, lived too long, and was condemned to see thirty years of conquests reversed in less than five, leaving his realm riven by internal disorder. Ultimately, Sumption shows us, Edward died a heroic failure. - Jacket flap.