Agincourt: A Novel

Written by Bernard Cornwell

Narrated by Charles Keating

data-redactor-tag=""em"">Agincourt is classic Cornwell…[with] attention to historical detail, well-paced action, and descriptive writing that is a pleasure to read."" —data-redactor-tag=""em"">Bostondata-redactor-tag=""em""> Globe

Bernard Cornwell, the data-redactor-tag=""em"">New York Times bestselling “reigning king of historical fiction"" (data-redactor-tag=""em"">USA Today), tackles his most thrilling, rich, and enthralling subject yet—the heroic tale of data-redactor-tag=""em"">Agincourt. The epic battle immortalized by William Shakespeare in his classic data-redactor-tag=""em"">Henry V is the background for this breathtaking tale of heroism, love, devotion, and duty from the legendary author of the Richard Sharpe novels and the Saxon Tales. This extraordinary adventure will captivate from page one, proving once again and most powerfully, as author Lee Child attests, that “nobody in the world does this stuff better than Cornwell.""

• Language: English
• Publisher: HarperCollins
• Release date: Jan 20, 2009
• ISBN: 9780061729768

Bernard Cornwell

Bernard Cornwell was born in London, raised in Essex and worked for the BBC for eleven years before meeting Judy, his American wife. Denied an American work permit he wrote a novel instead and has been writing ever since. He and Judy divide their time between Cape Cod and Charleston, South Carolina.

Reviews for Agincourt

[johnthefireman · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

A very readable fictional account of one of the great battles which remains in the English national psyche. The story is told from the point of view of the archers, who were pivotal in this battle, and again form part of the English myth of that era. Welsh voices pop up occasionally as a reminder that the word "English" is often over-used. It does not shirk the horror of war - mud, blood and shit. Perhaps the main weakness is an exaggeration of the qualities of the archers - they become almost godlike figures in their strength.

[harrod_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Wonderfully done but that's no surprise. Cornwell is a masterful story-teller and brings to life one of the most momentous battles in British history.

[Tanya Szymberski · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

As always, BC knocks it out of the park! I highly recommend this read for anyone who loves historical fiction.

[Christopher Hegan · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This book owes me a day of my life (but I don’t really want it back). I managed to get the housework done but I was too riveted, bolted and welded to this gripping narrative, brilliantly told, to achieve anything substantial. Now I will go back and re-read Shakespeare’s Henry V. Bound to be fascinating from the perspective of Cornwell’s novel.

[Jeng0414 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Amazing! I am so glad I discovered Bernard Cornwell. His voice is so nice and this book was so interesting! I did not ever lose interest. I love the historical accuracy of the events surrounding this book.

[mjwebb-1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Loved this book. It deals with a period of history that fascinates me, and surely any other red blooded Englishman? The victory of victories against the old enemy. A triumph against all the odds.
The book has a simple and easily followed plot. It's storytelling at it's best. The brutality of war is there for all to read about, but so is the heroism, sacrifice, chivalry and honour. One of my favourite novels by this author.

[evaberry · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Obviously extremely well researched, this book leaves you not doubting for a moment that Cornwell knows his stuff. It is also written in a very captivating way, albeit revelling a little too much in the blood and guts I thought, with graphic descriptions of torture and killing. But I suppose it was a vicious time, too. As a linguist I naturally wonder whether the anachronism of the modern language takes away from the credibility of the story, but then again if it was written in the language of the time it would be fairly unreadable...

[Benjamin Sinitean · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This is the best audiobook and best narrator available on this site. Hands down.

[a.godhelm · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

All the highlights of a Cornwell historical novel without committing to 10 more books to read in a series.

[n.w.moors-1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I've read some of the Last Kingdom series, and I'm about to start Mr. Cornwall's Arthur series, so I'm familiar with his books. Agincourt has always been a fascinating battle to read about, so this book is right up my alley. Sir John Cornewaille, leader of Nick Hook's group of archers and men-at-arms, is in my family tree, and there are other historical figures brought to life here in the author's inimitable prose. The main characters, Nick and his wife are not historical, but they always felt true to the times they lived in.
Agincourt has always had an aura around the battle in a way that others like Poitiers and Crecy do not. The book starts with the sack of Soissons, which made a nice bookend with Agincourt. Soissons is the home of Sts. Crispin and Crispian, and their saint day is the day the battle of Agincourt happened. It makes for a fascinating read with many details about archery and the battles themselves. This may not make it a book for everyone, but I love stories like this, and I'd highly recommend it for others who like history.

[fence_2 · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

entertaining in places, but far too much repetition in the fight scenes. almost every arrow launched is described as well as every sword cut parry etc.

[feralcatbob · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I'm a fan of well researched, historical fiction and Cornwell once again does a good job and yet makes for an entertaining yarn. Enjoyable read. Enough of a story to keep it from reading like a mere repetition of event A happened on date B.

[amkitty-511462 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I confess to being mostly unfamiliar with the battle of Agincourt. But I have enjoyed Cornwell’s series about Alfred the Great and this audiobook was available from the library.

Cornwell used names from the rolls of Henry V’s archers and created this tale of the famous battle. Most compelling are the vivid descriptions of a battle camp, the supply and health problems of medieval warfare and sieges, and the characterization of the various people. From the colorful language of the battle-hardened commander (is there any other language where insults are so varied and creative?) to the internalized feelings before a fight, this novel brought me straight onto an unromanticized stage of life in the Middles Ages.

Nicholas Hook finds himself outlawed from his village home in England when his lord tires of a family feud between the Hooks and another local family. Feeling guilty over not saving the life of a young girl, Hook prays to the local patron saint of Harfleur where he is sent to besiege the town. Soon, St Crispin begins to advise him.

Hook saves another girl, a novice nun, when Harfleur is sacked by a French army once the English siege is broken. When he returns to England, he is assigned to a lord who supports King Henry. Hook returns to France, to Harfleur. On the retreat to Calais, the English are forced into the battle of Agincourt.

A gritty, realistic look at 15th century war, politics, and religion. Highly recommended.

[jpeterman-190606 · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

I really wanted to like it! I loved Stonehenge.

This one felt, I don't know, kind of stilted? The action wasn't super actiony. A lot of insults and swearing. A LOT. Rape. Murder (not just battle deaths).

I had high hopes for this one, but I just am not feeling it. Overall, I'm glad I read it, but it won't be one I turn to again.

[harperhaven · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Excellent historical novel but could have been written with a less graphical description of the horrors of war.

[briandarvell_1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

My first time reading something by Bernard Cornwell. For anyone who enjoys a good middle-ages style of historical fiction this book would be perfect. It had lots of action and decent character development. It turned out to be a real quick and fun read. I will definitely read another Cornwell novel in the future.

[4bonasa · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

True to history as fiction can be.

[darrell.newton · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Having read the other reviews, I have very little to add. I enjoyed the book except for two aspects: the extreme violence and church bashing. Yes, both were true. War is hell, but I don't find hell entertaining. It is a personal failure on my part, I suppose. As for the church bashing, one does not need to look far to see failure within the church -- failure at the criminal level -- but one does need to look between the trees to see it. In this analogy, the trees are the good things that the church as done.

Had those two aspects been in balance, then I would have rated this book a five. Bernard Cornwell did his homework (as far as I can tell) and crafted a great story that put flesh on an historic event that would otherwise have been left to dry military history. I appreciated his historical notes at the end, in that they showed what in the story was according to record and what wasn't. I especially liked that even the protagonist's name was drawn from historical documents. Well done, Mr. Cornwell.

[fliss88_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

What an excellent read. A famous battle between the French and the English that should have been a decisive victory for the French. For historic detail you couldn't ask for better and the story races along at a cracking pace, building with tension to the vividly told battle sequence. From the arrival of the English army in France, we hear of their the long march to Calais, the highs and the lows involved with army life, the horrors of siege warfare, their problems with hunger and the wretchedness of a foot soldiers battle with illness. It's all there in well written, gruesome detail. Some of that detail was hard for me to read, being so violent, yet in spite of it all I can believe it to be an honest account of how things were for these two armies and the Kings who led them. It was the archers with their long bows who made victory for the English possible and it was the mud of the battlefield that helped bring down the heavily armoured French. Gutsy action and language, well researched facts have gone to make this Bernard Cornwell novel a must read for Historical Fiction fans.

[eye_gee-1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This its a fabulous audio book, and an instance where the narrator made all the difference. Not being a great lover of military history I suspect I would not have made it through a print version, but the audio version was full of excitement and the different characters were vivid and well defined.

[benjaminhahn · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I listened to this book during my commutes this Feb/March. Like all Bernard Cornwell novels, this story was gritty and full of violence. The everyday tasks and annoyances of life in a darker time were in full view. Agincourt gives us an archer's view of this famous battle. Cornwell, as usual, gives us a very detailed look at what a battle must have been like when experienced in the front lines. Great care is given to the details of period armor and weapons, what they were specifically used for and how things like soil condition could turn a battle. The historical elements are also profound. Priests are just men, some are good and some are evil. Yeah, that sounds about right. As far as the archery goes, he hit all the right chords. When you know the things a middle ages archer would worry about on a daily basis, it makes that person slightly more relatable. As always, I look forward to more novels from this fun author.

[foghorn2leghorn · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Interesting historical novel, well written, and he gives you
the real history after the end of the novel.

[john257hopper · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This novel set in the Agincourt campaign and battle of 1415 is a good read, with colourful and interesting characters. Plenty of bloody scenes, of course, and like a number of other Cornwell novels, it suffers somewhat from very repetitive battle scenes with very similar descriptions of individual fights and killings. But overall a good novel based on very vivid and memorable historical events.

[daleala · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Agincourt follows protagonist Nick Hook as an archer in England's army as they fight in the famous historical battle of Agincourt. The English army is outnumbered (5,000 lightly armored archers vs 20,000 more heavily armored French troops).
Will England prevail? Will Nick Hook survive the day, or be annihilated by the French?

This book is very well written, full of meaty writing, fast paced and energetic. You really smell the sweat and feel the mud and fear as you read this book. It doesn't only follow the actual battle, but events following up to the battle, including very interesting side characters with very interesting side stories that fit in well with the main story of Nick Hook and the battle of Agincourt. A very well written book!

[bdtrump · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

A stand-alone focusing on Henry V and the Battle of Agincourt, the work has strongly written battle scenes, yet uncharacteristic metaphysical elements that Cornwell is not known for. Fun, but not as strong as the Arthurian series, Stonehenge, or other Cornwell books.

[philsyphe · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

“Azincourt” is quick-paced and not for the faint hearted. This author is in my opinion second only to Robert E. Howard when it comes to depicting vivid battle scenes. Mr Cornwell never shies away from depicting the horrors of war, conveying every gruesome detail of the dead or dying. There's an emphasis on the horror of cutting out/stabbing men's eyes in this tale.

I liked most of the characters, though Hook – the hero of the piece – seemed lacking somehow. Sir John, one of the other main characters, was perhaps the best-drawn, while Martin the evil priest made an effective villain.

The historical side of things was well-researched. I would’ve rated this novel four stars but, like all the Bernard Cornwell books that I’ve read to date, I’ve deducted a star because the story is let down by substandard elements of style. Long-winded sentences, adverbs, and adjectives are plentiful. The needless dialogue attribution drives me to distraction whilst the overuse of the word “then” is surprising for such a seasoned author.

The long-winded sentences are kept going by numerous commas plus “ands”, often aided by a “then”, like with the quote below:

>Will of the Dale put a bodkin into a rider's throat and the man jerked back under the arrow's strike, then rebounded forward from his saddle's high cantle and his lance buried its point in a furrow and so lifted the man out of his saddle as his horse galloped on, eyes white and visible through the holes in its face armour, and the man was dragged along by the stirrup as the horse took an arrow in the eye and veered to one side and so brought down two more horses.<

The above mammoth sentence could easily be cut down to at least four concise sentences. It would have more impact with those commas removed and by replacing conjunctions with full stops. To this reader at least the above is like listening to a hyperactive child. There are many of this type of sentence all the way through the novel.

I sometimes wonder if Mr Cornwell gets paid per word. If his works were thoroughly copy-edited they would be all 50-100 pages shorter. The story would remain the same but the reading experience would be much smoother. The reader does not want poor style to distract them from a good story.

The best authors avoid using “then” wherever possible. The amount used in this tome is cringe-worthy. It is achievable to write a long novel without using this word at all, except maybe in dialogue, but in the main narrative it sounds like a child’s voice. For example, the following quote shows the pointlessness of inserting “then”, plus the needless use of excess commas and conjunctions:

> It was one horse, Hook thought, judging from the sound, and then, suddenly, the horse and its rider were visible, riding eastward.<

Surely something like this would’ve conveyed the same meaning in a less-clunky style:

> Judging from the sound Hook thought it was one horse. Suddenly the horse and its rider were visible, riding eastward.<

What really makes me groan when I read Mr Cornwell’s books is the dialogue attribution. The two main annoyances are the repetition of informing the reader who’s talking when it’s obvious which character it is, plus the invariable inclusion of attribution after the first few words. This is like trying to listen to someone talk whilst another person keeps interrupting.

This quote shows the last point made above:

>We're three ranks deep," Sir John said, "and they're at least twenty ranks deep.<

No need at all to insert “Sir John said”. The reader knows who’s speaking. All this does is disrupt the sentence flow.

The quote below is similar whilst also wasting words:

>"So what's going to happen here?" Michael wanted to know.<

The reader can’t fail to know who’s speaking in this two-character exchange. “Michael said” would’ve been pointless enough but “Michael wanted to know” is a complete waste of words. He’s asked a question, thus it’s obvious that he wants to know something. Even if the reader did need to know who was speaking here the author would be using four words instead of two. As it happens, he’s using four instead of none. These are simple rules of style that are being ignored.

I sometimes wonder why I keep reader this author’s works. Truth is, despite the poor English style, his historical knowledge and ability to tell a story are superb. He’s brilliant at creating dramatic scenes and tense conflict, which are spoiled only by the issues already mentioned. If he’s writing about a period or situation that interests me I’ll check it out. If he picks something I’m only half interested in, however, I won’t go near it because of the distracting elements of style.

[keebrook · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

a simply written, simply plotted book. it seems to be written to allow the reader to walk around medieval France and England rather than tell a tale deep and rich.

characters are three dimensional but not to the point where i truly felt with them. however, they had enough substance to hold my attention and allow me to walk with them and smell the smells, feel the sweat and fear, and hear the bending of longbows.

Cornwell picked an archer as the protagonist so that we will see Agincourt front and center though the eyes of one of the key players in that battle. by making him common born but skilled and a bit of an outlaw, Cornwell can lead us past a menagerie of medieval culture that might not be accessible had we been seeing things from a noble’s point of view.

the battle scenes went on a bit long but, in the end, i felt like i had been there slogging through mud and blood with the men-at-arms and archers at Agincourt.

despite the physics being a bit Hollywood hyperbolic (ie the mass of an arrow or crossbow bolt cannot knock a full-grown man off his feet, however powerful the bow that shot it), this was a good, solid piece of historical fiction.

[nnschiller · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Lazy person's review: A Bernard Cornwell book and a good example of his work.

Slightly less lazy version: Cornwell does historical fiction quite well. This time he takes us to Agincourt (very similar to the Grail series, just a generation later. Same archers, politics, tactics, and church influence as the earlier series.) Cornwell takes us through Henry V's famous campaign and unlikely victory, highlighting the weapons and tactics that made victory possible.

On a related note, Cornwell's next book will be a return to the Grail series, so he must be happily geeking out on archers' tactics in medieval Europe.

[turtlesleap · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Exceptional historical fiction set in the reign of Henry V, this book gives an account of some of the key battles between England and France, culminating at Agincourt. Mr. Cornwell's excellence lies in his thorough and detailed research and in a style of writing that allows the reader to immerse themselves in the historical period. His descriptions of battles are relentless and, at times, perhaps a bit too graphic for some readers. His characters are utterly believable, his settings flawless, his story compelling. Highly recommended for those who enjoy solid historical fiction.

[lettylibrarian · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

This is my first Cornwell book and I read it at the suggestion of my husband who is a big fan. I am a fan of GRRM and the Game of Thrones series. He figured I would like this book too. Which I did but...Cornwell and Martin are similar in terms of their gritty approach to describing events on the battlefield. And I'm fine with that. I want to read about bloody battles. It is part of the adventure. But Cornwell does not create a story line that appeals to me like Martin does. The novel is really for those readers who want to learn how a battle is fought during medieval times. There were long stretches of the book that went into lengthy details that bored me. I did however learn a great deal about archery. I do enjoy learning my history through novels. I would recommend this book to anyone who is a fan of medieval times but maybe not so much anyone without much of a stomach for warfare.