"Haines's defining biography is a work of immense scholarshp... His biography is a magnificent feat of scholarship." Nottingham Medieval Studies "A fascinating quarry of material - Haines offers both judgment and constant evenhandedness." BBC History "This book is a labour of love, the culmination of Haines' long and distinguished career as an historian of the fourteenth century. As such, it a superbly crafted work, painstakingly researched and beautifully written." Histoire Social / Social History "A narrative that integrates the work of several generations of scholars has long been needed: Haines' work should prove to be more than the starting point for a new generation." Canadian Journal of History "This is a magisterial work, drawing on the fruits of a lifetime of study and writing about late- medieval English history. Haines joins an illustrious group of students in turning his attention to this pivotal period. He has mastered the previous literature and offers balanced criticism and fresh observations on all the relevant events. Because of the work's comprehensiveness, and because of the author's thoughtful and balanced judgements, this study should stand for some time as the standard narrative account of that reign." Joseph Goering, Department of History, University of Toronto "A significant contribution to research. Haines does a good deal to both amplify and to bring together modern scholarship on the period. This is a very detailed study, based on formidable scholarship." Michael Prestwich, Department of History, University of Durham, UK "Professor Haines's defining biography is a work of immense scholarship which does not sensationalize and which claims for its subject no special sympathy. Instead Edward II is placed in the unhappy context of an inherited war with Scotland, the great European famine and a perpetually unstable feudal relationship with his French counterpart... It is as depressing a story as Professor Haines's biography is a magnificent feat of scholarship."
Nottingham Medieval Studies, xlviii (2004) "Both rigorously academic and wonderfully written, this book is a notable achievement and a joy to read."
HISTORY, January 2007