Victory at Poitiers: The Black Prince and the Medieval Art of War

On 13 September 1356 near Poitiers in western France, the small English army of Edward, the Black Prince crushed the forces of the French King Jean II in one of the most famous battles of the Hundred Years’ War. Over the centuries the story of this against-the-odds English victory has, along with Crecy and Agincourt, become part of the legend of medieval warfare. And yet in recent times this classic battle has received less attention than the other celebrated battles of the period. The time is ripe for reassessment, and this is the aim of Christian Teutsch’s thought-provoking new account. AUTHOR: Christian Teutsch is a military history instructor at the United States Military Academy at West Point, and he has served in the US Army Infantry in combat tours in Afghanistan and Iraq. He has an MA in medieval history and has made a special study of English warfare during the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries. In addition to his work on the Poitiers campaign, he has written about Edward I’s military education during the Baron’s War. SELLING POINTS: .New study of the single most decisive battle of the fourteenth century .Full account of the Black Prince’s 1356 campaign .Sets the battle in the context of medieval warfare .Reconsiders English and French Strategy in the Hundred Years’ War ILLUSTRATIONS 25 b/w illustrations *