The staffs of the National Portrait Gallery, the British Library, the National Archives at Kew and the Prince Consort’s Library at Aldershot have all been unfailingly helpful to my often arcane requests for books and documents, most long out of print. The Dean and Chapter of Canterbury Cathedral were kind enough to permit me access to King Henry IV’s tomb at a time when, apart from myself, that great monument to a glorious past (and with luck a reasonably good future too) was entirely empty. Even the most cynical could not have failed to feel a deep sense of spirituality. Mathew Bennett was kind enough to cast the critical eye of a medieval and military expert over the manuscript. At Atlantic books Angus Mackinnon, my indefatigable editor, Ben Dupré my copy editor and James Nightingale, Caroline Knight, Margaret Stead, Lauren Finger, Mark Handsley and Martin Lubikowski have all played a huge part in the piloting of the book from keyboard to bookshop, and I thank them for all that they have done.