"The Hundred Years' War: Volume III: Houses Divided" is a story about the contrasting destinies of kings and nations. In the last decade of his reign, King Edward III of England, a decrepit, pathetic symbol of past conquests, was condemned to see them destroyed by the armies of his enemies. When he died in 1377, he was succeeded by a vulnerable child who was destined to grow into a neurotic and unstable adult presiding over a divided nation. Meanwhile, France entered one of the most brilliant periods of its medieval history, years of power and ceremony, astonishing artistic creativity and famous warriors who became famous far beyond France's borders, in Naples, Hungary and North Africa. Contemporaries in both countries believed that they were living in unforgettable times: times of great evil and great achievement, of collective mediocrity but strong personal heroism, of extremes of wealth and poverty, of good fortune and bad luck. After six centuries, as Jonathan Sumption ably and meticulously shows, we can agree with all these judgments.