A Parisian Journal, 1405-1449

France was the scene of continual strife in the first half of the fifteenth century. Beset by English armies and their Burgundian allies, interminable conflict brought the French to near ruin. Paris suffered along with the rest: famine, want, crime and rioting culminating with the insult of an English occupation of the city between 1420 and 1436. The hardship of these dark times was captured by an anonymous eyewitness who noted everything down in a highly detailed journal. This fascinating book gives a remarkable glimpse into life in the city in the Hundred Years' War and it is a frank and immediate account of the misfortunes of the capital's citizens. Evidently, a figure of authority and intelligence, our eyewitness guides us through political events, gossip and rumour to matters of everyday importance. He records the weather; the price of corn and want of bread; the evils of the soldiery and suffering of the poor; and, inevitably, the bad faith of the great and the good. He notes the arrival of gypsies, jots down any popular songs and stories he might hear and recounts the visitations of the plague. He ponders on Joan of Arc and reflects on the horrendous cooking of the English occupiers. Above all, his account is rich in anecdote and serves as a splendid source for any modern reader interested in the trials and tribulations of medieval life. This journal has been translated by Janet Shirley and it is a brilliant example of lucid, readable prose. Accompanied by explanatory notes and illustrated with contemporary images, it is an attractive and absorbing volume. "The English, essentially, are always wanting to make war on their neighbours without cause. That is why they all die an evil death." "She [Joan of Arc] was soon dead and her clothes all burned. Then the fire was raked back and her naked body shown to all the people and all the secrets that could or should belong to a woman, to take away any doubts from people's minds. When they had stared long enough at her dead body bound to the stake, the executioner got a big fire going again round her poor carcass, which was soon burned up, both flesh and bone reduced to ashes. There were many people there and in other places who said that she was martyred, and for her true lord. Others said that she was not, and that he who had supported her so long had done wrong."

About the Author :
The author of the original French text remains anonymous. Janet Shirley is a translator specialising in French medieval texts. Her other works include Hunting Heretics and The Song of the Cathar War.

Review :
"The translation itself is a work of genius." - John Le Patourel.