This volume is a brief history of sixty years of English rule in Gascony, the southwestern region of present-day France. Marsh's particular concern is how the various towns of the region were affected by decades of political upheavals. Beginning with the controversy over John's ascension to the throne following the death of his brother, Richard I, Marsh shows how difficulties at the local level contributed to and resulted from the larger instabilities of the time. He also considers the alliances and factions among Gascony's small towns as they met with a succession of English kings. The book concludes with the treaty between Henry II and Louis IX, ceding control of the region to France. An appendix lists the mayors of Bordeaux during this period.