Welsh Journals

directness. Even so, his book fails to satisfy the reader's expectations. The narrative of events is not always successfully re-centred on the history of the Clares. This makes it difficult to assess the degree to which their possession of marcher lands really determined their policy from generation to generation. It also leads to puzzling gaps in the story. Thus, having emphasized Earl Gilbert the Red's determination to defend his marcher rights against royal interference, and drawn attention to his widespread usurpation of jurisdictional powers during the Barons' War, Dr. Altschul fails to discuss how far disputes over his English franchises, occasioned by the quo warranto proceedings, affected the earl's relations with Edward I. At times, too, the handling of motivation is unconvincing. Dr. Altschul contends that Gilbert consistently supported the basic principles of the Provisions of Oxford throughout the concluding stages of the Barons' War. In fact, on the author's own showing, the earl changed sides no less than five times in as many years. This suggests that Gilbert, like his father, was an opportunist who joined in baronial plans provided his interests, his pride, or his ambition were not endangered. Most disappoint- ing of all, the book has little that is strikingly new and significant to tell us, and one of its most detailed sections, on the revenues of the Clare estates, must be used with caution. The author himself recognises that inquisitions are not a satisfactory basis for calculating baronial incomes, but the abundance of figures that he quotes inevitably gives a spurious impression of precision. C. H. KNOWLES. Cardiff. THE ORGANIZATION OF WAR UNDER EDWARD III, 1338-62. By H. J. Hewitt. Manchester University Press, 1966. Pp. 192. 37s. 6d. The military and political aspects of the Hundred Years' War have received far more attention from historians than has its general effect on the people of England and France. Dr. Hewitt has set out to remedy this, at least as far as the first phase of the struggle is concerned, in what he modestly describes as 'a few supplementary studies for a broader view of the war'. He is not interested in battles and treaties; his themes are the organization of the English war effort and the way in which the conflict affected the non-combatant population of the two countries. The first four chapters deal with the defence of the English coast against the ever-present danger of French landings, the mechanics of levying troops and of getting them to the ports of embarkation and then across the Channel, and the accumulation of supplies for expeditions about to