In this thorough & illuminating work Michael Prestwich provides a comprehensive study of Plantagenet England a dramatic & turbulent period which saw many changes. In politics it saw Simon de Montforts challenge to the crown in Henry IIs reign & it witnessed the deposition of Edward I. In contrast it also saw the highly successful rules of Edward I & his grandson Edward III. Political institutions were transformed with the development of parliament & war was a dominant theme: Wales was conquered & the Scottish Wars of Independence started in Edward Is reign & under Edward III there were triumphs at Crecy & Poitiers. Outside of politics English society was developing a structure from the great magnates at the top to the peasantry at the bottom. Economic changes were also significant from the expansionary period of the thirteenth century to years of difficulty in the fourteenth century culminating in the greatest demographic disaster of historical times the Black Death. In this volume in the New Oxford History of England series Michael Prestwich brings this fascinating century to life.