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Book Review of Agincourt

Agincourt
Agincourt
Author: Bernard Cornwell
Genre: Literature & Fiction
Book Type: Hardcover
Shavian avatar reviewed Cornwell's Best on + 15 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 3


For the Sharpe novels, Bernard Cornwell has a magically simple and effective formula. As he describes it, "If the plot is getting dull, all I have to do is wheel on forty thousand Frogs and mow them down - everyone's happy again!"

His fans will be very happy with "Agincourt", which is rarely dull and has no shortage of Frog-slaughtering. I prefer it to the Sharpe novels mainly because of his characterization of Henry V. The king's motives are more intelligible and plausible here than in the jingoistic dramas of the English playwright whose name escapes me. But the protagonist Nicholas Hook leaves something to be desired and there a few too many fetishistic descriptions of armor for my taste. All in all, this is the best Cornwell I've read.