"The core of the book is a day-by-day description of the campaign of July-September 1356, climaxing with an abbreviated account of the Battle of Poitiers itself." - New York Journal of Books
The capture of a king in the course of a battle was a relatively rare event. This, the climactic event of the Black Prince's first campaign as commander, came at the end of nearly a year of campaigning across the southwest of France.
The battle of Poitiers in 1356 is less well known than more famous clashes such as Agincourt, however, Poitiers was no less dramatic, and equally important in terms of the course of the Hundred Years War. The capture of King Jean brought France to the brink of total defeat, and led to one of the most devastating and destructive periods in French history. It is not exaggeration to say that the battle of Poitiers changed the course of history for both France and England.
In the summer of 1356 the Prince and his army drove northward towards the Loire, attacking once again deep into French territory. This time he met real opposition: the full French army led by King Jean and many of the leading nobility of France, some of them veterans of the defeat at Cr
