A dramatic contemporary thriller focussing on the blind passion of an obsessive dream. STORMCHILD is the story of a quest, of a man's search for his missing daughter - and to prove his daughter's innocence from involvement in her mother's murder. And he is no ordinary man - for he is famous as a world-class yachtsman, but the strength of the storms he has to face at sea are nothing compared to the violence of the political campaigners who hold his daughter. **

From Publishers Weekly

Cornwell's fourth seagoing adventure ( Wildtrack ) features boatyard owner and solo globe-circler Tim Blackburn, devastated when his wife is killed by an explosion in the English Channel. Tim has already lost his son, who was murdered by IRA terrorists, and his daughter, Nicole, has joined a band of eco-activists led by charismatic, slightly sinister Caspar von Rellsteb. Tim is convinced that von Rellsteb plans to have a brainwashed Nicole hand over her inheritance to his group, Genesis, and, after a period of mourning, he tracks von Rellsteb to Florida, where Genesis is disrupting a environmentalist convention. Tim meets Jackie Potten, a mousy young American reporter certain that Genesis is a fascistic group and a big story. Eventually Tim and Jackie team up to sail the steel-hulled sloop Stormchild to von Rellsteb's island base off the fierce Patagonian coast of Chile. Cornwell unleashes danger and violence, from both man and nature, and terrible revelations before a lethal confrontation off Cape Horn. Lots of sailing action--which may confuse some landlubbers--and a nice, quirky love story round out this page-turner. Cornwell also wrote the Sharpe series.
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Kirkus Reviews

A British yachtsman sails to Cape Horn to reclaim his daughter from eco-terrorists--in another deep-sea adventure from the author of Wildtrack and the Sharpe military series. British boatyard owner Tom Blackburn, who has lost his wife and son to separate, unrelated bombs, pulls himself out of an understandable depression and makes it his mission to find and rescue his only daughter Nicole. After her twin brother's death, the embittered Nicole threw herself into every available self- destructive activity, finally casting her lot with Caspar von Rellsteb, a green guerrilla from Canada. The charismatic von Rellsteb and his followers call themselves Genesis and specialize in sabotage of deep-sea fishing operations, but Genesis is so secretive that nobody knows how to find them or where they get their money. Blackburn's detective work puts him in touch with the mother of another Genesis member and with a flaky young American reporter, Jackie Potten, who, in turn, track down von Rellsteb's history and learn that he has inherited an estate in southernmost Chile. Blackburn sails off to South America with Miss Potten in the yacht Stormchild. Miss Potten learns to navigate and loses her pallor, but before romance can blossom there is a misunderstanding and she is replaced by Blackburn's clergyman brother. The Blackburns find the dismal, dangerous eco-camp in Tierra del Fuego and--with the help of the resourceful, returned Jackie Potter--go to war. Ridiculously exciting adventure in splendid scenery. -- Copyright ©1991, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

The first book in Bernard Cornwell’s bestselling series on the American Civil War. It is summer 1861. The armies of North and South stand on the brink of America’s civil war. Nathanial Starbuck, jilted by his girl and estranged from his family, arrives in the capital of the Confederate South, where he enlists in an elite regiment being raised by rich, eccentric Washington Faulconer. Pledged to the Faulconer Legion, Starbuck becomes a northern boy fighting for the southern cause. But nothing can prepare him for the shocking violence to follow in the war which broke America in two. **

From Publishers Weekly

First in a projected series, this brisk novel by the popular author of Sharpe's Devil follows the adventures of Nathaniel Starbuck, the rebellious and discredited son of a famous Boston abolitionist preacher. Nate flees the North after helping a femme fatale steal money she claimed was hers, winding up in Richmond as Fort Sumter falls and the Civil War begins. Unable to return home, distrusted by Southerners because of his parentage, Nate is taken under the wing of the mercurial and megalomaniacal Washington Faulconer, obsessed with building an independent army, answerable only to him, to fight for the Confederacy. Spanning the period from Sumter's capitulation in April 1861 to the First Battle of Bull Run in July, the book is well paced and filled with the historical details genre fans demand. Cornwell is at his best in action sequences like Nate's near tar-and-feathering and the riveting climactic battle, which are described in taut, gripping prose. Cornwell's clear affection for the Old South in all its aspects will put off some readers, but his highly entertaining novel will appeal to many, especially in the South. 50,000 first printing; $70,000 ad/promo; author tour.
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal

Cornwell, deservedly the best-selling author of the Sharpe series on the Napoleonic Wars (e.g., Sharpe's Enemy, Audio Reviews, LJ 5/1/96), is a Johnny-come-lately to the American Civil War. Here, he tells about a Yankee preacher's son who is caught in the South after the fall of Fort Sumter. Nathaniel Starbuck, estranged from his family and girlfriend, ventures to Virginia where he meets an eccentric Southerner and ultimately decides to fight for the Confederacy. Unfortunately, this recording has numerous problems. Reader Hayward Morse tends toward hyperbole and stereotypes the characters. On a personal note, one of the adhesive labels that adorn the cassettes came undone and jammed this reviewer's cassette player. There are far better Civil War stories on tape, especially Shelby Foote's Stars in Their Courses (Audio Reviews, LJ 3/1/95). This is one Cornwell title to avoid.?James Dudley, Copiague, N.Y.
Copyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Third volume in the bestselling Starbuck Chronicles. The battle for control of Richmond, the Confederate capital, continues through the hot summer of 1862. Captain Nate Starbuck, yankee fighting for the Southern cause, has to survive and win in the bitter struggle not only against the formidable Northern army but equally in opposition to his own superiors who would like nothing better than to see Nate Starbuck dead and dishonoured. Starbuck's courage is tested to the limit in his desperate manoeuvres to retrieve his own and the Legion's honour in this the thrid narrative of Bernard Cornwell's sweeping epic of the American Civil War.

A superbly exciting novel which vividly captures the horror of the battlefield, The Bloody Ground is the fourth volume in the Starbuck Chronicles. It is late summer 1862 and the Confederacy is invading the United States of America. Nate Starbuck, a northern preacher’s son fighting for the rebel South, is given command of a punishment battalion – a despised unit of shirkers and cowards. His enemies expect it to be his downfall, as Starbuck must lead this ramshackle unit into a battle that will prove to be the bloodiest of the Civil War. **

From Library Journal

Cornwell's fourth novel about Nathaniel Starbuck, a Northerner in the Confederate Army, carries this Civil War saga to Antietam, which ruined Robert E. Lee's attempt to carry the war to the North. A British writer, Cornwell brings a fresh spin to the war by peopling his story with Northerners serving the South, Southerners serving the North, spies, turncoats, and real historical figures?including Lee and Stonewall Jackson. His characters are many, and the historical arena is complex, but complications never confuse the listener. The genius of Cornwell's narratives about Starbuck and Richard Sharpe, his British rifleman (e.g., Sharpe's Regiment, Audio Reviews, LJ 11/15/96), lies in his ability to place protagonists in such ever-deepening personal peril that readers cannot turn away. Indeed, the human drama of The Bloody Ground is so compelling that it overcomes the competent but often grating reading of British actor Hayward Morse, who gives Starbuck Jimmy Cagney's voice and makes senior Confederate officers sound like Al Capp's Jubilation T. Cornpone. Engaging listening for commuters; recommended for public libraries.?R. Kent Rasmussen, Thousand Oaks, Cal.
Copyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Review

Praise for THE BLOODY GROUND: 'The best so far in Cornwell's American Civil War series ... The cacophony of the cornfield slaughter is stunningly conveyed' Daily Mail 'A very fine novel indeed; Bernard Cornwell at his disticntive best ... builds to a gripping climax ... stirring stuff' Sunday Telegraph 'Cornwell is as masterly as ever at conjuring up the grisly nature of nineteenth-century campaigning and the terrifying adrenaline surge experienced on a battlefield reeking of black powder and blood' The Times Praise for Bernard Cornwell: 'The best battle scenes of any writer I've ever read, past or present. Cornwell really makes history come alive.' George R.R. Martin

From * New York Times *bestselling author Bernard Cornwell, the first exciting adventure in the world-renowned * *Sharpe series, chronicling the rise of Richard Sharpe, a Private in His Majesty’s Army at the siege of Seringapatam. “The greatest writer of historical adventures today.”
— *Washington Post Richard Sharpe. Soldier, hero, rogue—the man you always want on your side. Born in poverty, he joined the army to escape jail and climbed the ranks by sheer brutal courage. He knows no other family than the regiment of the 95th Rifles, whose green jacket he proudly wears. *

From * New York Times *bestselling author Bernard Cornwell, the second installment in the world-renowned * *Sharpe series, chronicling the rise of Richard Sharpe, a Private in His Majesty’s Army at the siege of Seringapatam. "The greatest writer of historical adventures today."
— *Washington Post Richard Sharpe. Soldier, hero, rogue—the man you always want on your side. Born in poverty, he joined the army to escape jail and climbed the ranks by sheer brutal courage. He knows no other family than the regiment of the 95th Rifles, whose green jacket he proudly wears. *

From Publishers Weekly

Followers of Cornwell's series featuring the exploits of British infantry officer Richard Sharpe (Sharpe's Rifles, et al.) in the Napoleonic wars (adapted for Masterpiece Theater) and in his earlier career in colonial India will relish this look at Sergeant Sharpe on the subcontinent in 1803. A fluke makes our hero unofficial aide to General Sir Arthur Wellesley (the future Duke of Wellington, though it's never mentioned in the novel) at the time of the siege of Ahmednuggur and Wellesley's brilliant victory at Assaye against the Indian Mahratta Confederation and the turncoat forces of ex-English officer William Dodd. This was the beginning of the end of the Mahratta rebellion against the British and a turning point in the Raj's growing power. Among the book's rich cast of characters are Hakeswill, a murderous British sergeant determined to kill Sharpe; Simone Joubert, the needy wife of a French officer; and the colorful Hanoverian mercenary, Colonel Pohlmann, who leads the Mahratta forces from atop an elephant. Most roundly dimensional and representing the extremes of British society are Wellesley, the coldly brilliant and fearless son of an earl, and Sharpe himself, the tortured, unlettered bastard from London's slums, who is determined to rise. Cornwell contributes vivid details in descriptions of life in an army camp, the dual military regimes of the East India Company and the regular army, and Indian politics. Best are the battle scenes, laid out clearlyAthere's a handy mapAwith all the heat, stink and blood of war and "the joys of slaughter." The reader's pleasure in all this gore may be a guilty one, but Cornwell, a master of battlefield writing, makes it too exhilarating to forgo. 15-city NPR feature; 3-city author tour.
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal

Back in his fourth hot adventure, Richard Sharpe faces a treasonous English officer in 1800s India.
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

"The greatest writer of historical adventures today."
— Washington Post

Critically acclaimed, perennial New York Times bestselling author Bernard Cornwell ( Agincourt, The Fort , the Saxon Tales) makes real history come alive in his breathtaking historical fiction. Praised as "the direct heir to Patrick O'Brian" ( Agincourt, The Fort ), Cornwell has brilliantly captured the fury, chaos, and excitement of battle as few writers have ever done—perhaps most vividly in his phenomenally popular novels following the illustrious military career of British Army officer Richard Sharpe during the late 18th and early 19th centuries. In Sharpe's Fortress, Ensign Sharpe's adventures in India reach a grand finale at the Siege of Gawilghur during the Maharatta War in December 1803, as Cornwell's hero uncovers a foul treason and seeks a righteous revenge. Perhaps the San Francisco Chronicle said it best: "If only all history lessons could be as vibrant."

"The greatest writer of historical adventures today."
— Washington Post

Critically acclaimed, perennial New York Times bestselling author Bernard Cornwell ( Agincourt, The Fort , the Saxon Tales) makes real history come alive in his breathtaking historical fiction. Praised as "the direct heir to Patrick O'Brian" ( Agincourt, The Fort ), Cornwell has brilliantly captured the fury, chaos, and excitement of battle as few writers have ever done—perhaps most vividly in his phenomenally popular novels following the illustrious military career of British Army officer Richard Sharpe during the late 18th and early 19th centuries. In Sharpe's Prey, Sharpe must prove his mettle once again after performing courageously on Wellesley's battlefields in India and the Iberian Peninsula, as he undertakes a secret mission to Copenhagen, Denmark in 1807 to prevent a resurgent Napoleon from capturing the Danish fleet. Perhaps the San Francisco Chronicle said it best: "If only all history lessons could be as vibrant."

A Richard Sharpe and the French invasion of Galicia, January 1809. In the bitter winter of 1809 the French are winning the war in Spain and Britain?forces are retreating towards Corunna, with Napoleon?victorious armies in pursuit. Lieutenant Richard Sharpe and a detachment of Riflemen are cut off from the British army and surrounded by enemy troops. Their only hope of escape is to accept the help of an unlikely ally, a Spanish cavalry officer, Major Blas Vivar. Unknown to Sharpe, the Spaniard harbours a desperate and quixotic ambition which will lead to a suicidal assault on the holy city of Santiago de Compostela and a savage fight agains overwhelming French numbers. Sharpe?determination must be tested to its limit if victory is to be snatched from disaster. **

From Publishers Weekly

The eight previous books about Richard Sharpe, up-from-the-ranks infantry officer in H.M. Rifles, followed him from Talavera in 1809, battling Napoleon's armies across Iberia into France in early 1814. This "prequel" set in January 1809 has the new Lieutenant Sharpe trying to get his small English band away from the victorious French. Sharpe hopes to join the British outpost in Lisbon but is waylaid by a Spanish major of cavalry into helping him pull off a "miracle." The noble Major Vivar means to raise the flag of Spain's patron saint over Santiago de Compostela, now in French hands, as a sign that Spain will not be defeated. Readers of the earlier books will enjoy the usual smooth writing and vivid, occasionally quite gory, color. The battle scenes are thrillingly realistic and we always learn something: a macho , for example, is a mule whose vocal chords have been cut so that it can't bray and warn the enemy. The subplots revolve around Sharpe's making the recalcitrant Harper a sergeant, winning the respect of his troops and, alas, losing a fair young English girl.
Copyright 1988 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal

Sharpe may come to personify the British Army during the Napoleonic Wars in the same way that Horatio Hornblower does the Royal Navy. Sharpe's exploits during the Peninsular Campaigns (1809-14) have been chronicled in eight prior novels; this "prequel" is the story of Sharpe's first command. He becomes the leader of a force of Rifles cut off behind lines during the disastrous English retreat from Spain and battles not only crack French dragoons but also the fierce winter weather and the hostility of his men. A Spanish major offers aid if Sharpe will help with his own desperate mission to guarantee a Spanish victory. A crackling adventure yarn, sure to delight Sharpe's many fans. Charles Michaud, Turner Free Lib., Randolph, Mass.
Copyright 1988 Reed Business Information, Inc.

The new Richard Sharpe adventure

It is the spring of 1809 and a small British army is stranded when the French invade northern Portugal. Sharpe is cut off and tries to fight his way back to the British lines but instead is led into treacherous danger.

When the future Duke of Wellington arrives to take command, he immediately mounts his own counter-attack. Sharpe becomes the hunter instead of the hunted. Amidst the wreckage of a defeated army, in the storm lashed hills of he Portuguese frontier, Sharpe takes a terrible revenge.

Sharpe's Havoc is a classic Sharpe story, with Richard Sharpe in fighting form in the company of Sergeant Patrick Harper, Captain Hogan and Sharpe's beloved Greenjackets.

• Sharpe's Havoc is the best Sharpe novel for a long time and may even be the best of all* - Evening Standard

After the cowardly incompetence of two officers besmirches their name, Captain Richard Sharpe must redeem the regiment by capturing the most valued prize in the French Army—a golden Imperial Eagle, the standard touched by the hand of Napoleon himself. **

Review

"A masterful blend of fiction and historical detail."— Newsday "A totally convincing picture of warfare, of hand-to-hand, sword-to-sword, bayonet-to-bayonet fighting."— Cleveland Plain Dealer

About the Author

Bernard Cornwell 's Richard Sharpe series takes its hero to the battle of Waterloo--and beyond. Several novels are the basis of a television miniseries. He was born in London and lives in Chatham, Massachusetts.

An action-packed historical adventure from Bernard Cornwell’s enthralling series on the Napoleonic Wars.

A daring, impossible mission might just be their last hope.

A year after the victory at Talavera, things are looking bleak. With Wellington outnumbered, the bankrupt army’s only hope of avoiding collapse is a hidden cache of Portuguese gold. Only Captain Richard Sharpe is capable of stealing it—and it means turning against his own men. **

Review

[Sharpe is] a hero in the mold of James Bond. -- The Philadelphia Inquirer

About the Author

Bernard Cornwell ’s Richard Sharpe series takes its hero to the battle of Waterloo—and beyond. Several novels are the basis of a television miniseries. He was born in London and lives in Chatham, Massachusetts.

From New York Times* *bestselling author Bernard Cornwell, the tenth installment in the world-renowned * *Sharpe series, chronicling the rise of Richard Sharpe, a Private in His Majesty’s Army at the siege of Seringapatam.

Sharpe’s job as Captain of the Light Company is under threat and he has made a new enemy, a Portuguese criminal known as Ferragus. Discarded by his regiment, Sharpe wages a private war against Ferragus – a war fought through the burning, pillaged streets of Coimbra, Portugal’s ancient university city.

Sharpe’s Escape begins on the great, gaunt ridge of Bussaco where a joint British and Portuguese army meets the overwhelming strength of Marshall Massena’s crack troops. It finishes at Torres Vedras where the French hopes of occupying Portugal quickly die.

The year is 1811 and the French appear to have won their war in Portugal and Spain, with Spain fallen to the invader except for the sea-wrapped city of Cadiz. Captain Richard Sharpe has no business being in Cadiz, but an attack on a French held bridge goes disastrously wrong and Sharpe finds himself in a city under French siege and political rivalry. Some Spaniards believe their country's future would he best served by forging a friendship with Napoleon's France, and their cause is helped when some letters, written to a whore by the British ambassador, fall into their possession. They resort to blackmail, and Sharpe is released into the alleys of Cadiz to find the whore and retrieve the letters. Yet defeating the blackmailers will not save the city. That is up to the charismatic Scotsman, Sir Thomas Graham, who takes a small British army to attack the French siege lines. The attack goes horribly wrong, Sir Thomas's outnumbered army is trapped, and Richard Sharpe finds himself embroiled in one of the most desperate infantry struggles ever to have been fought. In a bloody and stirring battle, Sharpe and the English get their revenge and their victory, but at a terrible cost. A triumph of both historical and battle fiction, Sharpe's Fury will sweep both old and new Sharpe fans into their hero's incredible adventures. Performed by Paul McGann **

From New York Times* *bestselling author Bernard Cornwell, the twelth installment in the world-renowned * *Sharpe series, chronicling the rise of Richard Sharpe, a Private in His Majesty’s Army at the siege of Seringapatam.

Quartered in a crumbling Portuguese fort, Richard Sharpe and his men are attacked by an elite French unit, led by an old enemy of Sharpe’s, and suffer heavy losses.

The army’s high command blame Sharpe for the disaster and his military career seems to be ruined. His only hope is to redeem himself on the battlefield. So with his honour at stake, against an overwhelming number of French troops, Sharpe leads his men to battle in the narrow streets of Fuentes de Oñoro.

The greatest threat to Wellington's Salamanca Campaign is not Napoleon's Army but France's deadliest assassin.  He's already failed to kill Captain Richard Sharpe once.  Now, he's getting a second chance. **

From Library Journal

This powerful, exciting novel, the fourth in Cornwell's fine series on the Napoleonic Wars (e.g., Sharpe's Honour, Audio Reviews, LJ 5/15/95), focuses on a key turning point: Wellington's defeat of the French in the Battle of Salamanca. Sharpe, who embodies the heroism of the common soldier, dies a dozen deaths in his struggle against Colonel Leroux, the man responsible for killing Britain's top spies. Sharpe falls into the beguiling Marquesa's web, blissfully unaware that the actions of this passionate beauty will determine victor and vanquished. The author details military strategy, pits infantry against cavalry, and shows how class considerations impact the entire conduct of the war, including medical treatment of wounded officers and low-born soldiers. A valuable epilog reveals how closely the recording captures the historic individuals and locations. The television miniseries and reader Frederick Davidson's performance will provide a large audience for this outstanding work. Highly recommended.
James Dudley, Copiague, N.Y.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Review

Consistently exciting... these are wonderful novels. -- Stephen King

A band of renegades led by Sharpe's vicious enemy, Obadiah Hakeswill, holds a group of British and French women hostage on a strategic mountain pass. Outnumbered and attacked from two sides, Sharpe must hold his ground or die in the attempt. **

Review

"Frederick Davidson performs superbly. For fans of the series, Davidson's readings may be definitive."

"The charm of the Sharpe novels is that of meticulously researched stories, books with a passionate correctness as to the details of military organization... and an old-fashioned devotion to heroic conduct."

"This superbly produced, unabridged audiobook edition featured the magnificent narrative skills of Frederick Davidson who truly brings alive the thrills, dangers, and plot twists that are the hallmark of Bernard Cornwell's historical adventures."

About the Author

Bernard Cornwell , born in London, worked for the BBC and Thames Television before coming to the United States to write full time. His sweeping historical novels, including the acclaimed Richard Sharpe series, make him a number one bestselling author in the United Kingdom and around the world. He lives with his wife on Cape Cod.

Frederick Davidson (1932-2005), also known as David Case, was one of the most prolific readers in the audiobook industry, recording more than eight hundred audiobooks in his lifetime, including over two hundred for Blackstone Audio. Born in London, he trained at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art and performed for many years in radio plays for the British Broadcasting Company before coming to America in 1976. He received AudioFile 's Golden Voice Award and numerous Earphones Awards and was nominated for a Grammy for his readings.

An unfinished duel, a midnight murder, and the treachery of a beautiful prostitute lead to the imprisonment of Sharpe. Caught in a web of political intrigue for which his military experience has left him fatally unprepared, Sharpe becomes a fugitive--a man hunted by both ally and enemy alike. **

Review

''Sharpe and his creator are national treasures.'' --Sunday Telegraph

''Bernard Cornwell is a literary miracle. Year after year, hail, rain, snow, war and political upheavals fail to prevent him from producing the most entertaining and readable historical novels of his generation.'' --Daily Mail

''Cornwell's narration is quite masterly and supremely well-researched.' Observer 'The best battle scenes of any writer I've ever read, past or present. Cornwell really makes history come alive.'' --George R.R. Martin

About the Author

Bernard Cornwell was born in London, raised in Essex, and now lives mainly in the USA with his wife. In addition to the hugely successful Sharpe novels, Bernard Cornwell is the author of the Starbuck Chronicles, the Warlord trilogy, the Grail Quest series and the Alfred series.

"Apart from the rousing battle scenes, the author is as his best in evoking a long-gone era through clever detail."-- The New York Times Book Review

A corrupt political enemy is determined to disband the South Essex Regiment -- and to destroy Major Richard Sharpe.

Sharpe returns to England and discovers an illegal recruiting ring that sells soldiers like cattle to other divisions. The ringleaders know Sharpe is on their trail, and they try to kill him at every turn. But Sharpe is fighting for his command, and as he moves from the dark slums of London to the highest courts of political power, Sharpe will risk charges of treason and death for a final chance at revenge.

"A ripping yarn."-- The Washington Post

"Consistently exciting . . . these are wonderful novels."--Stephen King **

From Library Journal

In the eighth volume in this superb series on the Napoleonic Wars (Sharpe's Siege, Audio Reviews, LJ 11/1/96), Sharpe must return from Spain to London to investigate why his supply of recruits has dried up. It's 1813, and Sharpe discovers a corrupt political enemy has diverted his recruits to sell them at auction. When he gets close to the source, the ring leaders try to kill him. Sharpe risks charges of treason to expose corruption at the highest level. The novel exposes the recruiting practices that, in fact, scandalized England and brought down prominent royal advisors. As usual, past and present sweethearts try to save Sharpe when danger threatens. Narrator-supreme Frederick Davidson provides the flavor of British life in the early 19th century on the lowest and highest levels as well as battlefield excitement as British troops cross into France from Spain. For young and old alike, this program is highly recommended.?James Dudley, Copiague, N.Y.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Review

Sharpe and his creator are national treasures.' Sunday Telegraph'Bernard Cornwell is a literary miracle. Year after year, hail, rain, snow, war and political upheavals fail to prevent him from producing the most entertaining and readable historical novels of his generation.' Daily Mail'Cornwell's narration is quite masterly and supremely well-researched.' ObserverThe best battle scenes of any writer I've ever read, past or present. Cornwell really makes history come alive.' George R.R. Martin