Calais

It is a surprise to have two books on Calais appearing simultaneously from a single publisher. Both are good, though very different in scope. Susan Rose's Calais is a useful account of the town from Edward III's conquest until its eventual reconquest by the French. It is a well-written, fluent narrative, interspersed with analytic chapters on social life in the town, making good use of the Cely, Lisle, and Johnson letters. There is also a brief account of the much debated outburst of religious controversy in the 1530s, involving one Adam Damplypp (not, apparently, his real name), which contributed to the fall of Thomas Cromwell. Rose has read widely in the printed sources, backed by archival work, mostly in the National Archives and the British Library. There are some errors or omissions. She has not spotted that the claim that the captured French town of Tournai sent MPs to the

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