Providing easily accessible factual material, and covering the whole geographical area of medieval Europe, including Eastern Europe, this comprehensive volume is the perfect companion to all aspects of medieval warfare.

Setting the Companion in themed, illustrated sections, each preceded by a narrative outline offering a brief introduction, Jim Bradbury presents clear information on battles and sieges, and generals and leaders.

Practical topics examined include:

• castle architecture, with examinations of specific castles
• ship building...

This is the first major study in English of the reign of Philip Augustus who ruled France from 1180 - 1223. Outshone for posterity, by his flamboyant contemporaries, the Angevin family of Henry II and his feuding sons, Philip was in fact far more successful than any of them, astutely playing them off against each other and recovering for the French crown their vast estates in Northern France including Normandy itself. As well as reasserting the power of the Capetian monarchy, he was also leader of the Third Crusade. Drawing together all the threads in the life of one of France's most forceful...

This text sets out to do justice to Philip (II) Augustus as a man and a king and to redress the balance of assessment in relation to his contemporaries.