Henry V A History of His Most Important Places and Events

Henry V A History of His Most Important Places and Events written by Deborah

Fisher and published by Pen & Sword Books - £20 - Hardcover - Pages 208

There are many books about King Henry V, several of which concentrate entirely on his

victory at the Battle of Agincourt in 1415. This one looks at his life from a different point

of view, concentrating on places that were important in his life and can still be visited by

those interested in getting a better feel for the man and understanding how his character

was shaped by his environment.

Henry spent much of his youth on military campaigns in Ireland, Wales and the Marches. As Prince of Wales, he became battle-hardened as a teenager when he received a near-fatal wound at Shrewsbury. Despite a fraught relationship with his father, he quickly reinvented himself as a model king and set his eyes firmly on the crown of France. Thereafter, much of his nine-year reign was spent on military campaigns beyond the British Isles.

The book takes its reader on a journey from the rural areas around Monmouth, where he was born, to Harlech Castle, where he put an end to Owain Glyndwr's rebellion, and from his coronation at Westminster Abbey to his private retreat at Kenilworth. We see him seize Harfleur and take the long road to Calais, culminating in the Battle of Agincourt, one of the most spectacular victories ever won by an English army. We follow his continued campaigns in France, through his marriage to Catherine of Valois at Troyes, to his eventual, tragically premature, death at Vincennes.

This book wants the reader to explore their knowledge about a person in this case through Henry V, some of the prominent places they stayed at or visited during their lifetime. This is a fascinating book as your getting the history and how certain places were important to that person. I particularly enjoyed the Welsh bits of this book and learnt quite a bit I didn’t know before, the author in fact has tried to concentrate on places or locations that are still around today. This will enable people today to visit these places through the handy appendix at the back of the book. The author Deborah Fisher has done a really good job with this book, and the up-to-date locations idea brings this book more of a modern feel to it. I would highly recommend this book.