Thanks to Shakespeare, Henry V became one of England's most famous monarchs. The image of the young king leading his army against the French and his stunning victory at Agincourt are part of the English historical tradition. However, to understand Henry V, we need to look beyond his military prowess. While Henry was indeed a commander of exceptional skill, his historical reputation as a king deserves to be seen against the broader backdrop of achievements, as he was a leader and a diplomat, an administrator , guardian of the peace and protector of the church, a man who worked with and for his people.For the previous fifty years, England had been ruled by a king in old age (Edward III), a king with unusually autocratic views and tendencies (Richard II), and Henry V's own father (Henry IV), a man who was never strong enough, morally, politically, or physically, to firmly lead his country. When Henry V came to the throne in 1413, England was hopeful of better times. This new study, the first full-length scholarly biography of Henry V, based on primary sources from English and French archives and incorporating a wealth of recent scholarship, charts his reign across a broad European the context of his time. The book concludes that through his personality and “professional” approach, Henry not only united the country for war, but also gave England the sense of pride and domestic rule it so desperately needed at the time. Taken together, these factors form the true basis of the high esteem in which Henry V is rightly held.