Book Review: "Henry V: The Astonishing Triumph of England's Greatest Warrior King"

Dan Jones offers a brisk narrative portrait of one of the most successful, and enigmatic, of England's many notable monarchs.

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I’ve been a fan of Dan Jones’ brand of popular history-writing for several years now, and the release of a new book from him is always a cause for celebration. His newest volume, Henry V: The Astonishing Triumph of England’s Greatest Warrior King is another rousing success. As he has in his books on the Wars of the Roses, the Plantagenets, and the Crusades, he offers fascinating insight into one of the most famous of English kings. With vivid prose, a keen control of his narrative, and meticulous attention to historical sources, Jones allows us to understand Henry as very much a man of his time, even if his fame far outlived him and his accomplishments.

In many ways Henry V is one of medieval England’s most mysterious monarchs. This, despite the fact that he is also one of its most celebrated and well-known, famous for leading the English to a glorious victory at Agincourt, for essentially strong-arming the French king into naming him heir to the throne, and becoming the subject of several Shakespeare plays (as well as the central character in the Timothee Chalamet vehicle The King). Fortunately for us, Jones is the type of historian who is adept at both detailing the events of his subject’s life as well as getting as close as he can to the king’s mind and thoughts.

Henry’s early life was certainly a tumultuous one, as he came of age during the reign of Richard II, a monarch known for his indulgence of favorites and his resorting to despotism when he couldn’t get what he wanted from his nobles. This had a major impact on the young Henry’s life, since his own father was sent into exile as a result of his cousin’s capriciousness. His father’s rebellion against his cousin and king, while perhaps justified, nevertheless created an unstable monarchy that it would take Henry V himself many years to stabilize. 

Despite, or perhaps because of, the tumult in his youth, from an early age Henry showed the character traits that would come to define him as a king. He was a skilled tactician, and as soon as his father was on the throne and he was elevated to Prince of Wales he became a key part of England’s military machine, storming castles and attempting to impose control on the rebellious Welsh. He was also, Jones shows, somewhat unkillable, at least in his early life. This is the man, after all, who managed to survive an arrow to the face as well as all of the other various ailments that plagued medieval folks. It’s thus small wonder that he truly saw himself as a larger-than-life figure with a grand destiny.

At the same time, Jones repeatedly reminds us that Henry could also be quite ruthless when he felt that his authority or that of the Crown was challenged. Though he was willing to offer clemency to those who surrendered to him, he could also inflict terrible pain and suffering, both on his own people and those who happened to be in the lands that he set out to conquer. This was as true for heretics such as John Oldcastle as it was for the cities that Henry left ruined and devastated in France. Jones takes pains to remind us, however, that his brutality was much in keeping with the mores of the Middle Ages and that it was only later that his actions came to be seen as a blot on his reputation. 

While he might have been most famous for his martial exploits, Henry was a surprisingly bookish monarch, and Jones shows the extent to which the written word was a key part of his life and identity as a king. He was also surprisingly fond of music. He would pass on some of these more sensitive aspects of his personality and his kingship to his ill-fated son, Henry VI.

Jones takes a rather unorthodox approach in his narration of Henry’s story. Rather than utilizing the past tense, he opts instead for a present tense mode of storytelling. This might be a bit jarring for some readers, but I personally thought that it worked remarkably well to help immerse us in Henry’s mind and his milieu, giving us an insider’s point of view as to his motivations, his life, and the actions that he took as he first ascended to the throne and then began to conquer France. It also helps us get a keener understanding of the milieu of which Henry was a part which, as any historian knows, is a key element to understanding a historical figure, particularly one as influential as Henry V.

Of course, as so often in English history–and in world history generally, really–Henry’s conquests proved to be short-lived. A short time after his death the French managed to rally and push the English back, thanks in no small part to the formidable presence of Joan of Arc. Just as Alexander the Great’s sprawling domains required his presence to keep them from cracking up and splintering into domains ruled by his successors, Henry V’s magnificent empire simply couldn't function without him. This wasn’t necessarily Henry’s fault, something Jones is at pains to point out. It’s just that he died so young and unexpectedly–with an heir who was literally a baby–that there was no chance that it was ever going to last. Moreover, it may very well have been the case that even Henry would not have been able to arrest the dissolution of his domains. 

Overall, I found myself quite swept away by Henry V, and Jones has once again shown why he is one of the most talented of modern historians. He has a real gift for crafting a story that hooks us from the first page, even as he also knows how to help us understand a key historical figure in the context of his time. He offers judgments, to be sure, but he doesn’t let his own preconceptions shape his history. He wisely recognizes that the responsible historian allows the story to emerge from the sources, rather than trying to force a preconceived conclusion onto the available evidence.

Thus, while he doesn’t shy away from showing some of Henry’s less palatable and morally questionable actions and behaviors, he is always conscious of how the king was a product of his time. He was a skilled warrior, to be sure, but he was also an able administrator. Jones’ greatest accomplishment, I think, is giving us a portrait of Henry that gets to who he was as both a man and a ruler. I highly recommend this to anyone interested in kingship or the Middle Ages.