The English Achilles: The Life And Campaigns Of John Talbot 1St Earl Of Shrewsbury
Condition: SECONDHAND
This is a secondhand book. The jacket image is a photograph of the exact copy we have in stock. This image shows the condition of this book. Further condition remarks are below.
Condition remarks:
Book: Good
Jacket: Worn/faded, no tears
Pages: Yellowed
In the tumultuous theatre of the Hundred Years' War, one man rose to such legendary heights that his very name struck terror into the hearts of the French — John Talbot, 1st Earl of Shrewsbury, the warrior immortalised by Shakespeare as a martial colossus and celebrated by his contemporaries as England's own Achilles. The English Achilles chronicles the remarkable life and campaigns of this towering medieval commander, tracing his ascent from the embattled marches of Wales and Ireland to the blood-soaked fields of France, where he served under Henry V and Henry VI with a ferocity and tenacity unmatched by any English knight of his age. Hugh Talbot reconstructs, with meticulous historical authority, the siege warfare, chivalric politics, and brutal realities that defined one of England's greatest — and most tragic — military careers. Introduced by the eminent historian C. V. Wedgwood, whose endorsement alone signals the scholarly and narrative weight of this volume, The English Achilles sits at the rich intersection of biography and military history, illuminating the late medieval world through the prism of a single, extraordinary life. Talbot's prose is measured yet vivid, drawing on chronicle sources and campaign records to present a portrait of a man who embodied an entire era's ideal of martial virtue — and who met his end at the Battle of Castillon in 1453, a final, defiant charge that closed the curtain on England's ambitions in France. For those who wish to understand the flesh-and-blood reality behind the legend, this biography poses a question that lingers long after the last page: what does it mean to be called invincible, in a world determined to prove otherwise?
Author: Hugh Talbot
Format: Hardback
Published: 1981, Chatto & Windus
Genre: Biography
Condition remarks:
Book: Good
Jacket: Worn/faded, no tears
Pages: Yellowed
In the tumultuous theatre of the Hundred Years' War, one man rose to such legendary heights that his very name struck terror into the hearts of the French — John Talbot, 1st Earl of Shrewsbury, the warrior immortalised by Shakespeare as a martial colossus and celebrated by his contemporaries as England's own Achilles. The English Achilles chronicles the remarkable life and campaigns of this towering medieval commander, tracing his ascent from the embattled marches of Wales and Ireland to the blood-soaked fields of France, where he served under Henry V and Henry VI with a ferocity and tenacity unmatched by any English knight of his age. Hugh Talbot reconstructs, with meticulous historical authority, the siege warfare, chivalric politics, and brutal realities that defined one of England's greatest — and most tragic — military careers. Introduced by the eminent historian C. V. Wedgwood, whose endorsement alone signals the scholarly and narrative weight of this volume, The English Achilles sits at the rich intersection of biography and military history, illuminating the late medieval world through the prism of a single, extraordinary life. Talbot's prose is measured yet vivid, drawing on chronicle sources and campaign records to present a portrait of a man who embodied an entire era's ideal of martial virtue — and who met his end at the Battle of Castillon in 1453, a final, defiant charge that closed the curtain on England's ambitions in France. For those who wish to understand the flesh-and-blood reality behind the legend, this biography poses a question that lingers long after the last page: what does it mean to be called invincible, in a world determined to prove otherwise?