A brutal man, to be sure, but a brilliant one. Revered as one of the country’s most illustrious leaders for centuries, he was also a usurper and a warmonger who ordered his uncle beheaded. Holding power for over fifty years starting in 1327, Edward III was one of England’s most influential kings-and one who shaped the course of English history. They themselves were iconic.Edward III: The Perfect King E-Kitap AçıklamasıĪ look at the brutal, brilliant fourteenth-century ruler, by the bestselling author of The Time Traveler’s Guide to Medieval England.

“Edward and Phillip did not need to portray themselves as icons. Written for an English audience, the book is detailed enough to engage and bore readers outside Britain. “The best way to avoid the inconvenience of war is to pursue it away from one’s own country.” Everyone mentions the English long bows, few remember Edward took hundreds of cannons to Crecy. The paragon of medieval chivalry, he was also its doom. “The banner of aristocratic military splendor which characterizes the middle ages had been shredded, not in a single afternoon by a few thousand archers but by thirteen years of careful experimentation and thought as to how projectile-based warfare could be perfected.”Īll of Edwards battles were fought in Scotland and France. Along the way lists of tournaments, gifts, textiles, poems and galas gel into a picture of a real, if alien society and the man who, for one shining moment, stood atop Europe as King Arthur incarnate. “Edward III’s experiences are so extraordinary that the period 1326-50 reads at times like a fairy tale with footnotes.”īeginning with Edward’s deliverance from his mother’s tyranny, Mortimer weaves this biography from the warp and weft of history, religion, economics, disease, family politics and personal drive. Edward’s life is examined, warts and all, a feat in itself as reliable records are spotty. Mortimer goes behind battles and treaties to explore the personal, cultural and religious background of the high tide of the middle ages. He was a prince who knew his job and did it.”īetter-than-average history.

“’The perfect king’ is not what Edward III was: it is what he tried to be. Book Review: Edward III: The Perfect King by Ian Mortimer