As night fell in Picardy on Thursday 24 October 1415, Henry V and his English troops, worn down by their long march after the taking of Harfleur and diminished by the dysentery they had suffered there, can little have dreamt that the battle of the next day would give them one of the most complete victories ever won. Anne Curry's startling new history recreates the campaign and battle from the perspectives of the English and the French. Only now, through an in-depth investigation of the contemporary narrative sources as well as the administrative records, and through a new look at the terrain where the battle was fought, can we come to firmer conclusions on what exactly happened, and why. This book, based on years of painstaking research and reflection, makes clear the genius of Henry V as a military leader, and the strengths and capabilities of the English army which he commanded. There can be no doubt of the desire of the French to resist him and to protect their homeland from his invasion. The French fought bravely and to the death. So where did they go wrong? The answers to this, and many other questions, are found in this landmark new history.