'This book offers an important and sustained analysis of the culture of ransoming in England and France during the Hundred Years War. Building upon an unrivalled knowledge of the archival sources, Ambuhl highlights the practical circumstances that shaped the development of practices of ransoming amongst the soldiers themselves. This is an essential corrective to modern romantic assumptions that interpret ransoming through the lens of chivalric literature or the writings of royal lawyers and propagandists.' Craig Taylor, University of York
'[Ambyhl] studies the customs and practices surrounding the capture and ransom of prisoners of war during the Hundred Years' War, particularly in the 1370s and the 1420s to 1440s. ... Detailed archival work in France and England undergirds this study. ... For the most part, experience must be extrapolated from what the actors did, what the sources tell us most about is what they did with money. The book is thus at its strongest in dealing with financial questions, and the chapters on the setting and payment of the ransom itself are its most important contribution. The author gestures throughout, however, at a wide range of debates about war and society in the later Middle Ages, and thus the book merits a broad readership.' Adam J. Kosto, Renaissance Quarterly
'Remy Ambuhl's important book is the first comprehensive examination of the whole ransom system ... an illuminating read and is destined to be a standard text.' Michael Hicks, The American Historical Review
'The book succeeds admirably as a detailed, authoritative account of the ransoming business in the Hundred Years War, with some tremendous archival work - receipts, ordinances of war, and court records, as well as chronicles and treatises on chivalry - furnishing an abundance of important examples ... an important and extremely valuable study.' Sean McGlynn, The English Historical Review
'This is a judicious, well-written book that will be the standard reference on the subject of military ransoms during the Hundred Years War ... As a monograph on the ransoming of combatants ... this is an excellent book.' Justine Firnhaber-Baker, French History
