Azincourt

My Christmas/New Year reading this year was Bernard Cornwell’s “Azincourt” – a typical Cornwell historical novel set in Henry V’s military campaign in northern France which culminated in the famous battle of Agincourt (Azincourt in French and in Cornwell’s title). The battle itself is a relatively small part of the book which focusses on the siege of Harfleur (modern day Le Harve) and the English (and Welsh) army’s subsequent march across France towards Calais. As usual, Cornwell tells the story through a rather heroic regular soldier (this time an archer called Nicholas Hook) who, of course, rescues and becomes romantically involved with a young woman and faces great danger from within his own ranks (an old family feud) but everything works out well in the end. Cornwell’s attention to historical detail is always excellent and he does write a good battle.