A highly illustrated study of the battle of Shrewsbury, made famous by Shakespeare in Henry IV Part 1, which secured Henry IV on the throne.

The battle of Shrewsbury in 1403 is one of the most important battles in English history. King Henry IV faced his erstwhile ally Henry Percy Earl of Northumberland in a bloody contest on a field outside the Shropshire town of Shrewsbury where two English armies, well-matched, and fighting with similar equipment and tactics, struggled in an archery duel in which the arrows 'fell like leaves in Autumn', before the battle was ultimately decided in close quarter hand-to-hand combat. With his victory, Henry IV secured the Lancastrian hold on the kingdom and demonstrated the right of his bloodline to the throne.

Using full colour artwork and specially commissioned battlefield maps and illustrations, this is the fascinating story of the battle without which the reign of Henry V, his wars and glorious victories against the French, and the later disastrous reign of Henry VI and subsequent Wars of the Roses could not have happened.

Dickon Whitewood has long held a passion for medieval history and the practice of warfare and has an MA in Medieval & Renaissance Studies from University College London. He is currently employed as a Research Assistant on the Norwich Castle: Gateway to Medieval England project and has previously worked at the British Museum, English Heritage and the Museum of the Order of St John.

Graham Turner is a leading historical artist, specializing in the medieval period. He has illustrated numerous titles for Osprey, covering a wide variety of subjects from the dress of the 10th-century armies of the Caliphates, through the action of bloody medieval battles, to the daily life of the British Redcoat of the late 18th century. The son of the illustrator Michael Turner, Graham lives and works in Buckinghamshire, UK.