My Reading List for Completing "A King's Gamble"

When I started writing A King's Gamble: The Neville's Cross Campaign, I had visions of myself as some sort of literary Indiana Jones—armed not with a whip, but with a dangerously overloaded bookshelf, a subscription to obscure medieval journals, and an unhealthy level of caffeine.

The cover is still a work in progress

Now, having finally completed my manuscript, I've realised two things:

1. Writing history isn't for the faint-hearted (or those allergic to late nights).

2. My wife was about to lose her mind if another Amazon parcel filled with medieval chronicles arrives at our door.

3. I enjoyed it immensley!

Given these dramatic revelations, I thought it only fair to share the sources that helped me navigate the minefield of 14th-century warfare, medieval politics, and Scottish stubbornness (seriously, the Scots of the 1300s could have given Braveheart a run for his money).

Primary Sources (AKA "Straight from the Horse’s Mouth")

These are the chronicles and records penned by the folks who actually lived (and occasionally died dramatically) through the events:

• Jean Froissart, Chronicles – Froissart is the medieval equivalent of TMZ. Gossip, exaggeration, scandal—it’s all here, and it’s glorious.

  
  

• John Barbour, The Bruce – Scotland’s answer to Froissart, but with more kilts and fewer scandals.

  
  

• Lanercost Chronicle – Straightforward, sensible, and often grumpy. Like a medieval Yorkshireman recounting his neighbour's feud.

  
  

Secondary & Modern Works (AKA "The Real Deal")

This lot kept me on the straight and narrow, and stopped me from wandering off into fantastical historical fan-fiction territory:

• Jonathan Sumption, The Hundred Years War: Trial by Battle – This hefty tome nearly broke my wrist, but Sumption’s insights are worth the physiotherapy bills.

  
  

  

  Jonathan Sumption's Epic Trial by Battle

  
  

• Barbara Tuchman, A Distant Mirror: The Calamitous 14th Century – Tuchman’s vivid storytelling makes you grateful not to have lived in the 1300s. Trust me, deodorant wasn't invented yet.

  
  

• Clifford J. Rogers, War Cruel and Sharp – Essential for understanding medieval battle tactics, though I still can't convincingly explain the difference between a "rout" and a "strategic withdrawal" to my non-historian mates at the pub.

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Honourable Mentions (AKA "Saved My Bacon")

• Chris Brown, The Second Scottish Wars of Independence – Gives a fabulous insight into the background behind Neville's Cross and does a great job of explaining the animosity in the border regions (on both sides of the border).

  
  

• Michael Prestwich, Armies and Warfare in the Middle Ages – Every time I got lost in medieval jargon, Prestwich threw me a lifeline in the form of clear, concise explanations.

  
  

This list isn't exhaustive, but it's a pretty solid snapshot of the literary life rafts that kept me afloat during this historical voyage. Whether you're a fellow history nerd, an aspiring writer, or just someone who enjoys the odd medieval scandal, I hope you find something here that piques your interest.

Just remember: the past is never boring—though, it can certainly lead you on some interesting tangents!

For anybody interested, here is my full bibliography:

Primary Sources

• Andrew of Wyntoun, Orygynale Cronykil of Scotland, ed. David Laing (Edinburgh: Edmonston and Douglas, 1872)

• Anonimalle Chronicle of St Mary’s Abbey, York, in The Chronicles of the Reigns of Edward I and Edward II, ed. William Stubbs (Rolls Series, 1882)

• Calendar of Patent Rolls, Edward III, Volume 10: 1358–1361

• Geoffrey le Baker, Chronicon Angliae temporibus Edwardi II et Edwardi III, ed. and trans. David Preest (Boydell, 2012)

• Henry Knighton, Chronicon (various translations)

• Herbert Maxwell, Lanercost Chronicle, 1272–1346, trans. (James MacLehose and Sons, 1913)

• James Balfour Paul, The Scots Peerage, Vol. VI (David Douglas, 1909)

• Jean Froissart, Chroniques, trans. Geoffrey Brereton (Penguin Classics, 1968)

• John Barbour, The Bruce (c. 1375; various translations and editions)

• The National Archives (UK), SC 8/120/5959 – Petition of Walter de Selby to the King (c.1327)

• The National Archives, UK: Reference: SC 8/247/12306 – Petition of James de Selby to the King (1358)

• Walter Bower, Scotichronicon, ed. D.E.R. Watt, vol. 7 (Aberdeen University Press, 1996)

Secondary & Modern Works

• A. King, According to the custom used in French and Scottish wars: prisoners and casualties on the Scottish Marches in the fourteenth century, Journal of Medieval History, 28 (3) (2002)

• Alexander Grant, Independence and Nationhood: Scotland 1306–1469 (Edward Arnold, 1984)

• Andrew Fisher, William Wallace (Birlinn, 2002)

• Anne Curry, The Hundred Years War (Macmillan, 1993)

• Anthony Goodman, The Loyal Conspiracy: The Lords Appellant under Richard II (Routledge, 1971)

• Barbara Tuchman, A Distant Mirror: The Calamitous 14th Century (Knopf, 1978)

• Chris Brown, The Second Scottish Wars of Independence: 1332–1363 (Tempus Publishing, 2006)

• Chris Given-Wilson (ed.), Chronicles of the Reigns of Edward I and Edward II (Cambridge University Press, 2012)

• Chris Given-Wilson, The English Nobility in the Late Middle Ages (Routledge, 1987)

• Clifford J. Rogers, War Cruel and Sharp: English Strategy under Edward III, 1327–1360 (Boydell Press, 2000)

• Fiona Watson, Under the Hammer: Edward I and Scotland, 1286–1307 (Tuckwell Press, 1998)

• G. W. S. Barrow, Robert Bruce and the Community of the Realm of Scotland (Edinburgh University Press, 1988)

• Helen Castor, She-Wolves: The Women Who Ruled England Before Elizabeth (Faber & Faber, 2010)

• J. R. Maddicott, The Origins of the English Parliament, 924–1327 (Oxford University Press, 2010)

• Jonathan Sumption, The Hundred Years War: Trial by Battle (Faber & Faber, 1999)

• Kelly DeVries, Infantry Warfare in the Early Fourteenth Century (Boydell, 1996)

• Lisa Hilton, Queens Consort: England's Medieval Queens (Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 2009)

• Matthew Bennett (ed.), Fighting Techniques of the Medieval World (Amber Books, 2005)

• Matthew Strickland, War and Chivalry: The Conduct and Perception of War in England and Normandy, 1066–1217 (Cambridge University Press, 1996)

• Michael Brown & Roland Tanner, The History of the Scottish Parliament, Volume 1: Parliament and Politics in Scotland, 1235–1560 (Edinburgh University Press, 2004), pp. 86–87

• Michael Brown, The Black Douglases: War and Lordship in Late Medieval Scotland (Tuckwell Press, 1998)

• Michael Brown, The Wars of Scotland, 1214–1371 (Edinburgh University Press, 2004)

• Michael Penman, David II, 1329–71 (John Donald Publishers, 2005)

• Michael Prestwich, Armies and Warfare in the Middle Ages: The English Experience (Yale University Press, 1996)

• Michael Prestwich, Plantagenet England, 1225–1360 (Oxford University Press, 2005)

• Ranald Nicholson, Edward III and the Scots: The Formative Years of a Military Career 1325 to 1337 (Oxford University Press, 1965)

• Richard Oram, The Kings and Queens of Scotland (The History Press, 2008)

• Robert Bartlett, England Under the Norman and Angevin Kings, 1075–1225 (Oxford University Press, 2000)

• Stephen Morillo, Warfare Under the Anglo-Norman Kings (Boydell, 1994)

• Susan Crane, The Performance of Self: Ritual, Clothing, and Identity during the Hundred Years War (University of Pennsylvania Press, 2002)

• W. Mark Ormrod, Edward III (Yale University Press, 2011)

My Reading List for Completing "A King's Gamble" for anybody who's interested in seeing it.