Military

John Maddicott argues that Edward III's bid for glory in France was motivated by concerns about England's neighbours and trade as well as amour propre for his claim to the throne of Philip of Valois.

Franco's traditional image has been as a canny neutral in the struggle between the Allied and Axis powers. But in 1940 his aspirations for an African empire drew him to within an ace of war with Britain.

Asa Briggs examines a well-balanced synthesis of the period.

Henry Tudor defeated and killed Richard III in battle in August 1485. That much is certain. Colin Richmond, however, wonders how the battle was fought; what prompted Yorkists to defect to the Lancastrian side; and above all, where exactly did the battle take place?

War in the Middle Ages, by Philip Contamine. xvi + 387 pp. (Basil Black- well, £17.50).

Geoffrey Parker travels to Germany to revisit the sites of the 17th-century conflict that saw the decline of the Holy Roman Empire and Habsburgs.

Ralph Smith assesses the material available on the conflict in South-East Asia.

Conrad Russell finds that it is easier to understand why sheer frustration may have driven Charles to fight than to understand why the English gentry might have wanted to make a revolution against him.

Geoffrey Warner looks at the reasons for the delay in opening a second Allied Front.