A detailed narrative of events so interesting as those which preceded and attended the conquest of England by William, duke of Normandy, needs little apology for its introduction, for the first time, to the english reader. If his feelings are at all in unison with those of the translator, he will welcome the easy access thus afforded to this remarkable chronicle;—by far the most minute, graphic, and animated account of the transactions in question, written by one who lived among the immedi...

The present publication is intended to supply a recognised deficiency in our literature—a library edition of the Essays of Montaigne. This great French writer deserves to be regarded as a classic, not only in the land of his birth, but in all countries and in all literatures.His Essays, which are at once the most celebrated and the most permanent of his productions, form a magazine out of which such minds as those of Bacon and Shakespeare did not disdain to help themselves; and, in...

“This is the original Game of Thrones.” George R.R. Martin.The royal house of France has fallen. Charles IV is dead, fulfilling the curse of the Templars once and for all. This leaves the path to the throne open for Robert of Artois to place his cousin, Philippe of Valois, upon it. Having committed fraud, perjury and murder in the name of the new king, Robert expects to receive a title and his full reward.But the days of betrayal are far from over and Robert is banished to ...

Michel de Montaigne was one of the most influential figures of the Renaissance, singlehandedly responsible for popularising the essay as a literary form. This Penguin Classics edition of The Complete Essays is translated from the French and edited with an introduction and notes by M.A. Screech.In 1572 Montaigne retired to his estates in order to devote himself to leisure, reading and reflection. There he wrote his constantly expanding 'assays', inspired by the ideas he fou...

As night fell in Picardy on Thursday 24 October 1415, Henry V and his English troops, worn down by their long march in search of a crossing of the Somme, can only have dreamt that the battle of the next day would be remembered as one of the most momentous victories ever won.Six hundred years down the line, the battle of Agincourt still rings through the centuries. In this stupendous victory English and Welsh archers who formed the bulk of Henry's army prevailed aga...

Jean Froissart (c. 1337 c. 1405), often referred to in English as John Froissart, was one of the most important chroniclers of medieval France. For centuries, Froissart's Chronicles have been recognized as the chief expression of the chivalric revival of the 14th century Kingdom of England and France. His history is also one of the most important sources for the first half of the Hundred Years' War.

According to Wikipedia: "Henry Brooks Adams (February 16, 1838 – March 27, 1918) was an American novelist, journalist, historian and academic. He is best-known for his autobiographical book, The Education of Henry Adams. He was a member of the Adams political family... In 1904, Adams privately published a copy of his "Mont Saint-Michel and Chartres", a pastiche of history, travel, and poetry, that celebrated the unity of medieval society, especially as represented in the great cathedrals o...

The only available source for the exact words of Joan of Arc, compiled from the transcript of her trials and rearranged as an autobiography by Willard Trask.

The "Magna Carta" is one of the most famous constitutional documents in the world. To the Americans, it has a sacrosanct bearing and it is seen as a major source of inspiration for the US Constitution. To the British, it is a 1215 charter which twenty-five feisty Barons forced on a hated King, and it represents an important milestone in a long series of documents (Charter of Liberties, Charter of the Forest, Habeas Corpus, Petition of Right, the Bill of Right, Act of Settlement...) which t...

LITTLE need be said to the lover of antiquity in commendation of the subject of this volume; and I take it for granted that every one who reads the history of the Middle Ages in a right spirit will readily acknowledge that Heraldry, as a system, is by no means so contemptible a thing as the mere utilitarian considers it to be. Yet, notwithstanding, how few are there who have even a partial acquaintance with its principles. To how many, even of those who find pleasure in archæological pursu...

Sallust's Conspiracy of Catiline and the Jugurthine War presents two sharply focused historical monographs on the moral and political crisis of the late Roman Republic. In compressed, archaizing Latin and with a taste for psychological portraiture, Sallust transforms episodes of sedition and imperial corruption into meditations on ambition, avarice, and civic decay. Catiline's failed conspiracy and Rome's protracted war against Jugurtha become exemplary narratives, situated between Thucydi...

In 1373, John of Gaunt set off from Calais on a great raid to strike at the heart of France. Driven by the high ideals of chivalry,the raiders left with epic pageantry. However, the reality soon overwhelmed the raiders. Beset on all sides by French ambushes and plagued by disease and starvation, the raiders battled their way through Champagne, east of Paris, into Burgundy, across the Massif Central and finally down into the Dordogne. Unable to attack any major fortifications, John of Gaunt...