Agincourt

Historical Whiz Mesmerizes with Agincourt.

A novel guest review by Catherine B. Merryweather celebrating author Bernard Cornwell's newest release, Agincourt


Bernard Cornwell’s latest historical novel is mesmerizing. The author’s talent for including technical, historical, and military detail without weighing down the story is once more in evidence. By the time the book is finished you feel as though you could fit in to the ranks of the archers without any problems, except for the minor detail of training from childhood to develop the requisite upper body strength! The depth of research sits lightly, but is what anchors this book so securely in its background of the Hundred Years War.


However, making the period live is not what keeps you turning the pages. The story is compelling with vivid characters and a flawed, ruthless but attractive hero who triumphs over adversity - no, not the French, but enemies within his own army. The protagonist Nicholas Hook is certainly another entertaining character that Cornwell has brought to life.

Henry V’s victory over the French army is legendary, and Shakespeare’s depiction has ensured that the main characters live on nearly 600 years later. But Cornwell tells the story of the longbow men who made it possible, and gives the legend a human dimension which will stay in the mind long after the final pages are read.