He comes into the service of Sir John Cornwaille, who protects him from outlaw charges and the mad priest who continues to scheme against him and Melisande, who Hook now loves. From his miraculous escape on, he is accompanied by the voices of Saints Crispinian and Crispin, the patron saints of Soisson, to whom he had prayed for deliverance. We also soon learn that Lanferelle, who oversaw the destruction of Soissons, is the father of Melisande, out of wedlock, and he, and Hook become bound in a life and death compact over her. He flees to France to survive the massacre of English and French in Soissons, along with a French girl, Melisande, who he rescues from another rapist, atoning for his failure. The story is told through the experiences of Nicholas Hook, an archer of dubious background caught in a family feud and outlawed from England because he struck a corrupt and mad priest in a failed attempt to rescue a young girl from rape. I was familiar with both of these but Bernard Cornwell brought this battle and the events to vivid life as it might have been experienced by one of the “few” English who fought it. Perhaps if you are a fan of military history, you’ve read John Keegan’s account in The Face of Battle. Summary: Through the eyes of Nicholas Hook, we see the massacre of Soissons, and the English invasion of France under Henry V including the frustrating seige of Harfleur, and the miraculous victory at Agincourt.įor many of us, if we know anything of the battle of Agincourt, it is through the lens of Shakespeare’s Henry V.
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