Autumn is upon us once more, with its falling leaves, heaps of spiders, travelling birds and, last but not least, my birthday! Normally this is not something I get very excited about, but perhaps to my detriment yesterday I took a look at the site of Boydell and Brewer, a British publisher. Their books are just invaluable to anyone interested in Medieval Western European history; I saw too many books I liked and may now be forced to rob a bank to buy them all.
Luckily, as my birthday is nearby (14 October), I'll see if I have enough patience to stay without a criminal record.
This does however mean that the total collection of Boydell and Brewer is unlikely to be in my possession any time soon, and that I have the difficult task ahead of me of deciding what books I'd like best. These are, thus far:
Warfare in Medieval Brabant (1356-1406)
By Sergio Boffa
I like Brabant. I also like Brabant getting beaten by Guelders. This happened a lot during that particular period (Baesweiler, Ravenstein) so it's probably going to be one big smile from start to finish.
Infantry Warfare in the Early Fourteenth Century
By Kelly deVries (apparently a bloke)
Although this book is out of stock at the moment, it'd certainly be a valuable addition to my collection on medieval warfare; it’s actually the principal book out on medieval infantry. Describes their organisation, tactics, armour, etc from about 1300 to 1350 or so. However, needs to be reprinted at great speed to be in time for B-Day.
John the Fearless
By Richard Vaughan
Part of the Valois Dukes of Burgundy series, this volume describes the life and death of the second duke of Burgundy of the Valois line. Pretty much starting the civil war in France (Armagnacs vs Bourguignons), he made Burgundy an independent state focusing on the Low Countries rather than a backwater French duchy.
Also deals with the siege of Maastricht (1407-1408). Boy we got a lot of press.
Bestiary
By Richard Barber
Actually, Barber didn't write it himself; it's a republication of a thirteenth century bestiary in the Oxford Library collection. Includes full colour prints of all the images, apparently, and a translation of the text. I presume Richard Barber must have written the introduction or translated the stuff. I already have a book by him on the Black Prince, a rather different subject.
These are the principal books from Boydell and Brewer I would like to have; there's loads more interesting ones, for example a biography of Bertrand du Guesclin and a study of the Black Death, but those are ranked a little lower for me.
When I was in Donner (big bookstore in Rotterdam) last week I saw another few good books, so I might as well add them, too:
Broedertwist
By Peter Rietbergen & Tom Verschaffel (editors)
Uitgeverij Waanders
A collection of essays on the Belgian revolt and (cultural) relations between the Netherlands and Belgium. Nicely illustrated and with contributions from good historians. Overall, tempting.
Lodewijk Napoleon
By J. G. Kikkert
Uitgeverij Aspekt
A biography of the first king of the country, brother of Napoleon. Best king we've ever had. Bit worried I might know pretty much everything in it already, at least the political stuff, which is most interesting to me. Also, it appears there's another biography being published soon by the Walburg Pers, which might be of better quality.
Then there was a paperback on the naval history of Great Britain from about 1550 to 1850 or so, and how the navy contributed to the creation of the British Empire. It looked interesting and well researched, but I already have two books on more or less the same subject standing in my bookcase.
When it comes to books I already have, I'm currently reading a few. Principal one of them is The Princely Court, by Malcolm Vale. It describes the way the courts of England, Flanders, Artois and Hainault-Holland functioned and it tries to identify a Western European court culture. It's well written and very interesting, but at times a little dull – the chapter on liveries, for example, while quite interesting could be rather tough going. However I have learned some important things, such as that being a servant in Hainault-Holland yielded one the best liveries, although not terribly optimistic ones (they were all grey; must have been a lot of suicides during Winter).
I'm also reading, on the side, Froissart's Chronicles. This is of course a very very abbreviated translation, dealing primarily with the Hundred Years War, as it is an English publication, but it's good. Froissart's style of writing is really easy to follow and very lively; sadly he is not always reliable (historians still disagree on how much).
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