Like Leaves Fall in Autumn: Hotspur, Henry IV and the Battle of Shrewsbury Paperback – November 11, 2016

This book, some of proceeds of which go to the "Friends of Battlefield Church," a church established upon the site of a mass grave of soldiers from the Battle of Shrewsbury in July 1403, was a disappointing read. While I applaud the efforts of the writer to publish a work beneficial to a historical group focused on preserving the history of the battle, the book was lacking in many respects, Firstly, (and most importantly), there are no maps. No base map - no troop movement maps - nothing. You should never publish a book about a battle and not include a single map because there are readers, such as myself who live thousands of miles away, who need these maps in order to gain points of reference. Secondly, the publishers chose to use an unnecessarily large font which gives the reader the impression they are reading a large print book. The text proves to be a distraction. In defense of the author, the book does note in its subtitle that it focuses on "Hotspur, Henry IV and the Battle of Shrewsbury," and not a detailed battlefield study. But even here, the information if disappointingly lacking. My interest in purchasing the book was to learn more about Henry "Hotspur" Percy, particularly the battle in which he died. After reading the book, I came away disappointed not only in not learning anything new, but having purchased this book to begin with. This book needs a complete rewrite.

This volume, short and sweet, gives a fine overview of the Battle of Shrewsbury. From my point of view, it has been written by a layperson for the layperson. Not everyone requires a map with boxes and arrows; after 600 years, does anybody really know for sure? Even the famous battlefield of Hastings may be in the wrong place altogether, so an overview may be as close as we’ll ever get. This book was written to give us an impression about what 15th century warfare is about, as well as the political situation of the time, down to the rivalry between Shrewsbury and Chester. We do get a good feel for the battle itself:“The shouts were followed by a hail of arrows from the archers on both sides. It was this, above everything else, which led to the slaughter. It was immediately clear, as well, that Hotspur’s Cheshire archers had the upper hand, thanks to the slightly raised position that Hotspur had chosen for the battle. The King’s men “fell like leaves in autumn,” wrote the chronicler Thomas Walsingham about the deadly barrage from the men of Chester. “Every one struck a mortal man!”The royal army was now drawn up on slightly lower ground, unable to see very well over the peas, with the King himself commanding the centre of the line, and his son Harry in charge of the left wing. The twenty-five year-old Edmund, Earl of Stafford, was commanding the right.The hail of arrows was devastating. On the left side of the King’s lines, Prince Harry received an arrow in the jaw, bouncing off the armour of a man next to him. Realizing the gravity of the situation, and in great pain, he insisted on staying on the field of battle. He broke off the arrow shaft and stayed put. On the right wing, the situation was increasingly dire. An arrow killed Stafford outright and those around him fled. The chronicler talked about the first wave of arrows and the men around the King falling “like leaves that fall in the cold weather after frost”.”I’m a little baffled why the author thought Henry was struck in the jaw; from everything else I’ve read, it was well documented that he was shot in the face next to his nose. But this is a small discrepancy and I found the occasional anecdote very helpful. The first 60% of the book was the author’s narrative, and the last 40% was Act 5 from Shakespeare’s Henry IV part I.

Yes was OK but not so much info as Shakespeare.