A.J. Forey
This book is clearly based on a considerable amount of detailed research and reading. It adopts, in the main, a thematic approach and covers not just the obvious topics, such as the recruitment of troops, sieges, and battles in the field: among the less familiar subjects treated are metallurgical developments, the provision of food supplies, transport, and the qualities demanded of a successful commander. Medieval warfare is also set in political, social, and economic context, with an examination of the causes and objectives of war.
James F. Powers
This is a valuable book packed with an extensive survey of recent studies by specialists, elucidated by rich notes, and complemented by a full bibliography... It is an excellent place to commence an examination of the subject, and specialists will also find it helpful in gaining a background for regions and periods other than their own.
Norman Housley
I am full of admiration for this excellent story of the practice of warfare in the Central Middle Ages. It is a work of both scholarship and synthesis, full of insight, and communicated in an accessible and professional way.
— University of Leicester
From the Publisher
France packs an impressive array of information into this authoritative study... The author provides enough detail (including examples of battles with maps) to make his book accessible to an educated audience.
Christopher Tyerman
John France.... has produced a minor tour de force of synthesis and analysis of one of the central features of medieval life.
