Book review: Agincourt: My Family, The Battle And The Fight For France by Ranulph Fiennes

Published by Hodder & Stoughton

As the 600th anniversary of the battle of Agincourt approaches, adventurer and endurance athlete Sir Ranulph Fiennes recounts his ancestors’ heavy involvement on both the English and French sides of the Hundred Years’ War.

Drawing on parallels from his time serving in the armed forces and as a leader of men on expeditions, Fiennes is able to tell the story from a unique vantage point, highlighting strategies and manoeuvres in graphic detail.

His descriptions of some scenes – like soldiers suffering from starvation and dysentery forced to tear holes in their pants to easily rid themselves of constant waste – offer an insight into the inglorious conditions armies marched and fought in.

What is most fascinating is the extent to which his family contributed to the shaping of England and France, as knights, noblemen and even those that sat on thrones.

An excellent factual journey charting Middle Age Britain. and Fiennes’ family’s influence on it.