The contemporary documentary records of a battle, written soon after or within living memory of the action, is the normal starting point for any study of an historic battle. While for major 17th and 18th century actions there may be extensive written records, the earlier one looks and also the smaller the engagement, it is usually the case that the documentary record becomes more and more sparse. There are occassional exceptions, such as Hastings which, because of its enormous international significance, has a quite extensive written and graphic record.

In these pages we have, where possible, provided some guidance as to the major contemporary sources for each battle. For the Registered Battlefields in England however there is also extensive material available in the English Heritage battlefield reports. A link to each English Heritage report is provided from the relevant battle page on this website.

A wide range of secondary sources have been consulted in preparing the material on the featured battlefields. An attempt has been made to consult the major works on each the action. The main sources are specified in the relevant further reading section. For several, where time has allowed, Local Studies collections have also been consulted for more obscure local sources. However such searches, where conducted, cannot claim to have been in any way exhaustive. In these cases the relevant volume of the Victoria County History (VCH) have been consulted, where available. Links to key online bibliographic indexes are given on the Links page

To understand the way in which battles of different periods were fought it is also essential to have an understanding both of general military history and of changing military technology and practice. For particular periods of warfare we have provided some background information on such themes: links are provided on the left hand navigation.  There is also a vast general literature on the subject of military practice and the study of military history. The following examples give a good general overview of nature and practice of warfare in the past but also bring the story up to the present:

• John Keegan, The Face of Battle, Penguin, London, 1978. One of the classic studies of military history.
• Martin Van Creveld, The Art of War: War and Military Thought, Cassell & Co, London, 2000.
• Tim Newark, War in Britain: The Military History of Britain from the Roman Invasion to World War II, Harper Collins, London, 2000. This is a good basic guide to the history of warfare in Britain.