Armies and Warfare in the Middle Ages: The English Experience

I finished reading this last night and found it to be a fascinating look at the nature of warfare in England during the Middle Ages. Prestwich focuses on he how-to's of war, rather than actual combat, though there is some space devoted to that as well.

Prestwich gives most attention to the question of whether there is a period of "revolution" in the history of warfare, and particularly whether that occurs during the Medieval period. He questions the premises of historians that preceded him, and concludes that though there was some change in warfare in the Middle Ages, it was not always for the best, and indeed not revolutionary.

This is an excellent and enlightening look on English Medieval warfare. Prestwich has definitely done his research on his subject. The work challenges myths and assumtions that many modern readers have about warfare in the Middle Ages. Prestwich gives good detail about the logistics of armies, such as recruitment, supplying and feeding, and tactics. The ideas of chivalric knights in shining armor at jousts and tournaments that some people might envision is replaced by cold, hard data and some contemporary statistics of daily operations of armies in the field.