1415: Henry V's Year Of Glory By Ian Mortimer. 4 out of 5

Read by Chris, June 2020

A wonderful new way of describing history.

Ian Mortimer writes a fantastic book in a way in have not come across yet. choosing to go through each day of 1415 individually, allowing for a wonderful amount of depth and colour. Using the ‘day by day’ calendar model, Mortimer tells a complete story of the most important year in Henry V’s life. Fantastically detailed to point where it can get a little dry but, a thoroughly enjoyable book.

I’m glad that this book doesn’t paint Henry as the near perfect ruler that some historians would have you believe, staying away from the Shakespearean image of the Lancastrian king and focusing purely on what happened not why Henry was so great. The decision to look at each day individually, allows Mortimer to delve into the political, social and economical details of the Agincourt campaign, I especially loved reading about the arrow making process and learning just how important, archers were.

Overall, worth readying if you can get through the slightly boring months of March to July. The Agincourt campaign is brought to live brilliantly and that alone makes this book worth it.

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