Jonathan Sumption has now completed the fourth volume of his magisterial overview of the conflict which divided England and France at the end of the Middle Ages. One to go. During the period covered here (from the death of Richard II in 1399 to that of Henry V in 1422), both kingdoms suffered from serious internal divisions. This was particularly true of France, where civil war between branches of the royal (Valois) family led to extreme violence, including the assassination of two Dukes of Burgundy. In the search for personal advantage, allegiances became unstable; trust was rare, as was effective government; the economy, too, suffered. Other divisions developed, notably between urban communities and the often more conservative rural areas. The main centre of conflict was Paris, the hub