I have always been a big fan of the Middle Ages. Well, let me rephrase that. I find it interesting, but I definitely would not have wanted to live back then.

I ran across a number of book reviews for this while doing orders for books at work, and after I read Jondude's review, I knew that I had to move it to the top of my to-read pile. I am really glad that I did.

It all starts with Nicholas Hook in the English countryside. He works as a forester, someone who maintains the local noble's forest by hunting game and preventing poachers from doing the same. He is of the lower working class and is basically a good person, but he finds himself on the run after getting in trouble in his village. His family has a multi-generation blood feud with another family in town that has led to no shortage of deaths on either side. The most recent incident ends with him hitting a priest, an ally of the other family, who is about to rape a young woman.

Hook ends up serving in France, supporting the Burgundian resistance to French overrule. Things come to a head at Soissons, a small city in the northeast, and the French massacre, rape, and pillage their own people, many of them women and children. It is there that Nicholas rescues Melisande, a French bastard of a local lord who has placed her in a nunnery for safety. Obviously, that didn't work out as planned.

As a result of his actions at Soissons, Hook finds himself back in England with the new lord willing to take him into service despite his past errors. They will all be serving in Henry V's army as they attack France in the hopes of supporting Henry's claim to the French throne. Hook, a master archer, finds himself in the center of all the action thanks to his skills as the English attack and capture an unimportant port village and strike out across France to ensure success.

It is these actions that place a smaller English force at Agincourt, where they will have to take on a superior force of French nobleman. Throughout the book, Hook finds strength in the images of St. Crispin and his brother St. Crispinian, who visit him regularly when he most needs support.

The book artfully takes the reader through the various battle scenes. Cornwell does nothing to spare the reader the harsh details of medieval warfare. Swords pierce various body parts, leaving trails of viscera, intestines, and other lovely images.

If you like high action, this is probably a book that you will enjoy this one. There is a strong Author's Note at the conclusion that shows how Cornwell used a number of legitimate resources to base his book upon. This includes details like character names, setting details, and battle techniques.