Agincourt: A Novel by Bernard Cornwell
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Book Reviews of Agincourt: A Novel
Book Review: Azincourt! Bloody & brutal historical fiction at it's best.
Summary: 5 Stars
A a fan of Cornwell's Grail trilogy I just had to give Azincourt a chance and i'm so glad that I did. This is an amazing piece of Historical Fiction and I think the reason I like Cornwell's work so much is that instead of novels written about what Kings or generals did during a time like this he paints a vivid picture of what life would have been like for the ordinary person. This book is written so well that you could actually close your eyes and just think of yourself being there, whether in the line of archers who shoot arrow after arrow into the oncoming French soldiers or riding into the battle on a war mount weighed down with armour. Personally for me this is how you can tell a great piece of fiction from just a good piece of fiction and as usual Cornwell pulls it off brilliantly.
This novel is about the life and times of one Nick Hook who is a thief, liar and murderer and finally an outlaw, we follow his life from his humble beginnings as a forester for his local lord to his exile and his joining to a band of archers heading for battle in France. As one of England's feared archers he is hated and reviled by the French people, it is here the Nick learns what it takes to be an archer, what it is like to kill man after man with the bow. Also he will learn about the dark side of war as the town he defends is destroyed by the enemy he witnesses the people slaughtered and raped, only through the intervention of Saint Crispin does Nick fins a way to escape, but all is not over, he still has battles to fight to win and to survive.
If you're a fan of Historical fiction that is action pacted then this novel just may be for you, give it go, it's well worth it.
Book Review: Very good
Summary: 5 Stars
I've read most of Cornwell's books and it is refreshing to find an author who improves with age. Most writers, once they get famous and wealthy turn out rubbish, there are plenty of instances of that. However, I must say that Agincourt by Cornwell is very good. I would even go far as to say that Cornwell is becoming a better author as he ages, something which is a rare occurence with today's bestselling writers.
Agincourt is a battle I've read many times in fiction and historical form. There really is a limit to how many times you can write about English archers and French knights. So Cornwell cloaks this one in drama. There is still a limit of how many times you can dramatize Agincourt into a story of a poor English archer, knight or footman vs. French knights, but Cornwell does a pretty good job. He makes the characters interesting enough that you want to read along. The death knell of a book is when you don't care whether the characters live or die.
There is a lot of material in the book, I think Cornwell could have made a trilogy out of this single book with all the characters involved, so some readers might find that Cornwell isn't exploring all the characters enough. But he has to limit it, otherwise the book would be a hundred pages longer.
He doesn't shy away from rapes, killings, bludgeoning or blood, so I would not recommend this book to small children, though it is easily and well written enough for children.
Some of the other reviewers have gone into Cornwell's views of Christianity and all that, but I don't really want to go into this. Just enjoy the book as it is, or not!
Book Review: Agincourt: A Great Read
Summary: 5 Stars
I had previously read Cornwell's first three Saxon Series books and I really enjoyed those which take place a couple hundred years earlier. He gives you a great feel and sense of the historical time he is writing about and I find him to be one of the very best at writing historical novels. While not as grand in scope and lenght as Follett's two works, since Cornwell tells a shorter story, there is quite a bit of depth to his story. In Agincourt he does no less with the years 1414 and 1415 and Henry V's foray into France to claim the crown. Cornwell uses Nick Hook to move us through the story and the times and he develops his many characters very well. Nick has made a few mistakes and could soon to be hung as an outlaw for punching a vile priest. But rather than facing the gallows Nick is saved, since good archers are needed and war is looming and Nick Hook is a very good archer with the long bow.
Life in 1414 was cruel and unfair and brutal and Cornwell lets you know it. Nothing too pretty about living back then unless maybe you were a Duke or Lord. Cornwell brings this all to you in a hundred different ways as the story propels itself to Agincourt. I found Agincourt to be a great read for a historical novel and it moves very quickly and never bogs down and get boring. There was no real surprise ending since I had studied Agincourt and other battles of the era, but Cornwell makes it a great story and adds characters to it.
Book Review: Battles come alive
Summary: 5 Stars
Cornwell's strength is his description of warfare, and in this novel of one of the most famous battles in English history, he brilliantly captures the feel and the detail of the archers and men at arms at Agincourt.
Agincourt is a famous English victory against the French, where an exhausted English army, desperate to reach the port of Calais to return to England, fights and defeats a much larger French force. The English archers are the key to the victory, and in this book, Cornwell tells the story of Nick Hook, one such archer.
Hook is an expert archer who has been outlawed for hitting a priest,the result of a feud between his family and another local family. He joins a troop of soldiers, learns how to fight hand to hand, and is a part of the invasion of France by the troops of Henry V. The story is told from the perspective of the archers and foot soldiers, not the kings and nobles.
The book is most eloquent and alive in the scenes describing battles, and military technology. It's easy to visualize the details of battle from Cornwall's prose, from how to create an arrow to how to mine under the battlements of a besieged city.
If you are a fan of Cornwell, this is one of his best in a long time. The plot is relatively straightforward, and since we know that the English win Agincourt, there is no surprise here. The joy is in watching the details unfold. I found the accounts of the battles mesmerizing.
Book Review: The smell of death
Summary: 5 Stars
Anyone with half an interest in English history is probably familiar with the broad story of the English victory over a vastly more numerous French army at the Battle of Agincourt, but what Bernard Cornwall's latest novel offers is an up close and detailed version of events from the perspectives of those involved.
Shakespeare's well known play necessarily focuses on the English King Henry, but Cornwall's strength has lain for years in allowing a version of history from the multiple perspectives of the many people involved.
Here the primary point of view is that of an English archer, and how appropriate is that?
But Cornwall's strength has always been his ability to write of battles, of conflicts between men with real sense of the action, whether it's in the Sharpe novels or others. Here is no different. The violence of the times and the battle itself is presented to the reader in gut-wrenching detail. If this isn't what it was like, I'd be surprised.
But Cornwall's strength has also been in creating characters with motives and heart that draws the reader in. Nick Hook is a great character, a man driven by revenge and hate, but also possessed of warmth and love for those close to him. And he can shoot an arrow over 200 yards and still find his mark.
The arrogance of those with power, the fear of those without, all is captured in a truly great yarn.
Read this book.