This book is well researched and is about the Battle of Poitiers in the Middle Ages. The author goes into a lot of detail about this important battle. They do a good job of setting the scene and presenting the facts. However the writing was dry which made it a hard book to read. This book will appeal to anyone interested in Military History and The Middle Ages. Casual readers may find the text too dry to hold their attention.

This book had its good points and some that were less than great, in my opinion. I picked this Galley copy up because I was interested in the part of the book that promised to be about the day to day life of the soldiers and the planning of the attack at Poitiers, but what I found was less about the common people and the soldiers themselves, than about royals and certain select noblemen.

This is a well-researched book, but at times if felt to me as if it could have been better organised, as if the facts being put forth were done so in helter-skelter fashion rather than with any real intent. Whilst I learned a few things and found some new areas of interest whilst reading this, I didn't feel that it held my attention as well as it should have, being a subject that I am highly interested in.

I believe this book does have its valuable points, and would be a good starting point for someone wishing to know more about a battle that has not been written about as much as some of the others from a similar period in history. I recommend it to those who are curious about the Black Prince and the wars with France that are often neglected in other writings.

This review is based on a complimentary copy from the publisher, provided through Netgalley. All opinions are my own.

The Black Prince and the Capture of a King: Poitiers 1356 is a short and highly focused book exploring the significant results of the battle at Poitiers, which lead to the capture of King Jean. There were several things I particularly liked about the book:
The day-by-day description of the campaign.
The lens getting turned on ordinary people (men-at-arms and noncombatants) as well as on the royalty/nobles.
The effectiveness of the English and Welsh archers was recognized as a key element in a successful battle strategy.
The focus was on a battle that is not as widely known as Agincourt.
I found the overall tone was often dry, making this book harder to read than it should have been.

During the One Hundred Years War between England and France, three battles stand out - Crecy, Poitiers, and Agincourt - as great English victories over larger French forces. When Edward, the Prince of Wales was 16, he stood in the front lines at Crecy. Ten years later, now known as the Black Prince, Edward led English and Gascony forces on a series of extended raids in southern and central France. The battle of Poitiers resulted in the capture of the French king and temporary ascendance for England.

Witzel and Livingstone provide an excellent sense of context and importance to the campaigns that lead to the battle of Poitiers. They carefully set the stage for the battle with a look at opposing forces, the terrain, the fighting the preceded the battle, and then a look at the result of the English victory.

Witzel and Livingstone provide as much detail as is available in regard to the battle itself.. They look at the layout of the terrain, the position of forces, the way that French attacks developed and the counterattacks of the English. They discuss and speculate where details are sparse, but are careful to cite what sources are available while examining the validity of those sources.

If the reader is looking for a readable yet scholarly examination of the Battle of Poitiers in context, The Black Prince and the Capture of a King is the book to read.

The Black Prince and the Capture of a King: Poitiers 1356 is a short and highly focused book exploring the significant results of the battle at Poitiers, which lead to the capture of King Jean. There were several things I particularly liked about the book:
The day-by-day description of the campaign.
The lens getting turned on ordinary people (men-at-arms and noncombatants) as well as on the royalty/nobles.
The effectiveness of the English and Welsh archers was recognized as a key element in a successful battle strategy.
The focus was on a battle that is not as widely known as Agincourt.
I found the overall tone was often dry, making this book harder to read than it should have been.

Excellent book, well researched and brilliantly written. The Black Prince is a fascinating if neglected historical figure, who deserves much more research done on him, this book is a excellent addition for anyone interested in the period.
I Highly recommend.

Great book! The Black Prince is not one that has been widely written about, which is a shame as he had such an interesting life!

I enjoyed reading through this book! If you are history teacher, or just interested in history in general, this is the book for you!

Book: The Black Prince and the Capture of a King: Poitiers, 1356
Author: Morgan Witzel and Marilyn Livingstone
Rating: 2 Out of 5 Stars

I would like to thank Netgalley and the publisher, Castmate UK, for providing me with this ARC.

Sighs….Let me start out by saying that I love the Middle Ages and reading about the Black Prince. With that being said, I do actually know a lot about the subject and when that happens, I do tend to be really, really picky on books. I will admit that I do tend to nitpick when that happens.

So, I find the Hundred Year war to be a very exciting and interesting time in history. So much happens and there are so many key players. There are battles, social changes, and more; so any book about this war should be very exciting. Well, not here. There was no excitement, no nothing. While reading, it really did feel like the authors were just spitting out facts with no passion. Don’t get me wrong, I’m sure that they are very passionate about the subject, but that passion just not come across the page. It was dull and very textbook like, which is something that is getting to be more and more frowned on in nonfiction.

I also thought that the book wasn’t very organized. There was too much opinion writing and too many referrals to go back to other chapters or jump to this chapter to read more about an event. I don’t mind opinion writing, but I mostly see it in memoirs, autobiographies, and biographies-all of which are supported by known fact. Here, it just seemed to kind of mender and was more based on “supposedly” than what we actually know about the Battle of Poitiers. Again, it’s okay, but it just wasn’t well presented here. The referring to other chapters really bothered me the most. It’s just sloppy and really shouldn’t be done in books.


I did like the focus on the day to day life of the army. However, it focused on the nobles and not the common soldiers. I know that most of what we know about the Middle Ages is based on the nobles, but there is information out that. It really did feel like the authors just focused on a few sources instead of taking the time to really dive into the events. Trust me, I have been researching the Middle Ages and I know there is information out there on the “little people.”

Now, this is a short read, so if you are looking for something quick, then this may be the book for you. However, just be aware that it does have issues-at least if you are picky on nonfiction.
This book comes out July 31, 2018. If you can’t wait until then to read it, head on over to Netgalley and see if you can get an ARC.
(Review is already on Goodreads and will be posted on Amazon on release day)