By Sword and Fire: Cruelty and Atrocity in Medieval Warfare

For all the talk of chivalry, medieval warfare routinely involved acts that we would consider war crimes. Lands laid waste, civilians slaughtered, prisoners massacred: this was standard fare justified by tradition and military necessity. This popular history examines the battles of Acre and Agincourt; sieges like Béziers, Lincoln, Jerusalem, and Limoges; and the infamous chevauchées of the Hundred Years War that devastated great swathes of France. A vivid, all-encompassing portrait of war i...