War, Government and Aristocracy in the British Isles, c. 1150–1500: Essays in Honour of Michael Prestwich is a collection of fourteen articles, mostly chronologically ordered, representing the latest in medieval British scholarship. The title of the collection captures well the themes of the articles, while all of the essays pay homage to Michael Prestwich and acknowledge and further advance his tremendous contribution to medieval British historiography. The book begins with an introduction detailing Prestwich's biography and ends with a comprehensive bibliography of his works. However, it is the high quality of the articles that best illustrates Prestwich's legacy.

The majority of the articles in the collection closely examine the medieval aristocracy, in particular its relationship to the royal court from the time of Henry II to that of Henry V. Most of the essays point to a generally symbiotic, yet competitive, relationship between the king and the nobility that significantly contributed to the growth of the English state. Careers of nobles in the king's court are especially well elucidated in this collection. Nicholas Vincent examines the key roles that earls played in the court of Henry II just as Henry tried to increase his power by limiting the number of earls and by curbing the hereditary view of earldoms. David Carpenter takes a long view of a political career of a household knight in the reign of Henry III, from his motivations in building his estate to the diversity of positions within the king's services. M. L. Holfold concentrates on the period 1300–1340 and the under-sheriffs, perennially accused of corruption in historical sources, to show that, in fact, under-sheriffs did not hamper state formation but instead promoted the king's authority and agenda. Robin Frame examines the complex ties with the English court of the English aristocracy who settled in Ireland from 1200 to 1360. The Anglo-Irish were not separated from the English court to the extent that the British historians tend to emphasize but maintained ties through marriage and royal military service. W. Mark Ormrod stresses that clerics were a significant part of the royal service in the reign of Edward III as he scrutinizes the career of Richard de Bury and the role that secrecy played in governance. Wendy Childs determines by studying the cloth of gold and other luxury exports to England that the increase in such trade in the fourteenth century was tied to larger growth of the princely court and increased consumption by the aristocracy wanting to ingratiate themselves into court culture. Readers of this fine collection will obtain a good nuanced picture of the expectations and life of the nobility at the royal court and in government positions, including the competing motivations of the aristocracy and kings, and an overview of significant strands in the historiography.

War is another major theme in this collection of essays, and often war is also tied to the kings’ relationship with the aristocracy. Edward I and Scotland and Edward III and France are particularly well represented here, while other kings (Henry V) and wars (the Crusades) also make an appearance. Archie Duncan, in a very technical article, examines three manuscripts to show how clergy used chronicles in June 1291 to find the justification for Edward I to assume overlordship of Scotland. Matthew Strickland, in a very well constructed piece, ties personal feud to the 1306 revolt of Robert the Bruce to show why this rebellion provoked such an excessive response from Edward I and was seen as essential in the rise of political violence. Andy King looks at the ethics of war in the reign of Edward III from the perspective of the fighting nobility to determine how the war with France was seen by many as God's just war with moral imperatives. Norman Housley links the warfare in the West during the middle ages to the Crusades and advocates more ties between the historians of the two regions. His article provides an excellent historiography of the subject for the past twenty years. Anne Curry looks at the complex history of the military ordinances of Henry V to establish their precedent in earlier reigns and more specifically the date of their issue in 1419. All of these articles encourage the reexamination of established sources and key military events to arrive at an even more complex picture of medieval warfare.

The three remaining articles in the collection point to the divergence between the English government and culture and the European courts. G. I. Harriss looks at the specific functions of the Exchequer from 1311 to 1421 and the ideas about budget and financial planning in the medieval economy. After a clear description of royal finance, Harriss concludes that any financial planning was not initiated by the king but needed a strong-willed king to enforce it. Bjorn Weiler locates the English eulogy for Edward I written in 1307 within both European conventions of eulogy writing and an English tradition of heroic kings. Weiler emphasizes that this eulogy illustrates the idea of lordship unique to the English court and that it is an important source not to be neglected. Finally, Maurice Keen stresses that chivalry and the expectations of chivalry were not just for knights; the kings were expected to be chivalrous as well. The idea of kingship and chivalry was also different in England than in Continental courts, especially with the legacy of Arthurian legends. The wars with France, in particular, fed the idea of chivalrous kingship, which is why, once France was lost, the concept was no longer necessary. War, government, and aristocracy were tied intimately together in building the state of medieval England.

This collection provides a thorough look at the latest scholarship and historiography of medieval British political, military, administrative, and cultural history. While some articles are too technical and complex for the use of undergraduate students or the general reader, all are well-researched and informative works that do justice to the brilliant career of the man they honor.