This is the first book devoted exclusively to the history of 'The Great Companies', an assembly of mercenaries drawn from different European countries who came together to fight in the second half of the 14th century, sometimes in the employ of kings, the pope, princes or city republics, but frequently fighting on their own account.

Kenneth Fowler, FRHS, is Professor Emeritus and Honorary Fellow at the University of Edinburgh. He is the author of The Age of Plantagenet and Valois (1967) and The King's Lieutenant: Henry of Grosmont, First Duke of Lancaster 1310-1361 (1969), edited and contributed to The Hundred Years War (1971), and in recent years has written a large number of articles dealing with medieval warfare and in particular the activities of mercenary soldiers.