In Review

08 January 2009 18:42 BST

Azincourt by Bernard Cornwell

Harper Collins, published in hardback, out now, 500 pp, £18.99.

In a nutshell…

Bestseller, bloody, vivid, action-packed, raw

What's it all about?

Azincourt follows the life of Nick Hook, who has to escape to France after he is outlawed for hitting a priest and attempted murder. He soon finds himself at the siege of Soissons where he rescues a nun from being raped and with her manages to escape what turns into a massacre. As the only survivors they find themselves returning to England where Nick must recount the take of the siege to King Henry V, who puts him in the service of Sir John Cornwaille. Soon after the English army sales for France, where Henry will make his claim to the French throne and war.

Who's it by?

Most people that are likely to read this book will be very familiar with Bernard Cornwell, the author of the Sharpe series of novels among others. Cornwell has been writing for over 30 years and Azincourt is his 47th novel and one he has been building up to writing for years.

As an example...

Nick Hook at one stage has to ask who Geoffrey Chaucer was and when told he was a poet replies: "Oh I thought he might be someone useful!" Nick's heroes are the archers that have gone before him like Thomas of Hookton - a nice little nod to one of Cornwell's previous heroes that fans are likely to recognise.

Likelihood of becoming a Hollywood blockbuster

Azincourt probably won't become a Hollywood blockbuster mostly because the story is too epic to fit into a convenient three hour (or less) timeslot so its unlikely that Kenneth Branagh (or Shakespeare) will have to worry about being challenged over the telling of the story of Agincourt.

What the others say

"If Bernard Cornwell was born to write one book, this is it. No other historical novelist has acquired such a mastery of the minutiae of warfare in centuries past. No one else could hope to take Shakespeare's Henry V, strip it of its rhetoric and tell the unvarnished truth about the Battle of Agincourt." - David Robson, Telegraph

So is it any good?

If you were coming to Azincourt as a first time reader of anything by Bernard Cornwell then this would be an excellent place to start. The story is on an epic scale while the hero is - fairly typically of Cornwell's heroes - blunt, coarse, with a strong sense of justice, smart but uncultured and more likely to settle an argument with their fists than anything else. If you have ever caught Sean Bean's character in the Sharpe TV series - that's the type of man our central character is here.

My problem with the book is largely that I've read many of Bernard Cornwell's other works and Nick Hook is perhaps a little too much like some of Cornwell's other heroes. Not only that but many of the other main characters lean slightly towards caricature, Sir John Cornwaille being one example while Sir Stephen is another.

While this is a bit of a distraction the story is full of action and adventure and while the end is something you would expect, getting there is still an enjoyable journey.

8/10

Matthew West