Showing results by author "Griff Hosker" in All Categories

King Henry is dead and Stephen of Blois claims the throne of England and the Dukedom of Normandy. The Earl of Cleveland returns to England to fight for the heirs of Henry. When King David and his Scottish army capture most of northern England it is only Alfraed who holds out against him. Set in the early years of the Anarchy this is a fast moving book filled with battles and intrigue.

Gerald Warbow wants nothing more than to enjoy, as his grey hairs grow, to enjoy his life as a landowner, father and grandfather but King Edward 1st needs his master archer and even though the Scots had been defeated at Dunbar, Warbow and his men go off to Flanders to fight the French. When Sir Andrew Murray and William Wallace inflict a humiliating defeat on the Earl of Surry at Stirling Bridge then Gerald Warbow is sent to begin the war that will see the Scottish and English armies clash at Falkirk.

Sir Thomas of Stockton has lost his son. Taking a handful of chosen men, he crosses the seas to travel through France seeking his enemy. Fate throws him in with a French lord and he meets the French King Louis. After exacting revenge, he returns to England where he helps King Henry plan and execute his campaign Poitou. The King comes of age when he and Sir Thomas lead their men against French and Poitevin rebels.

It is 1066 and the Saxon leadership lie dead at Senlac Hill. Only Aelfraed and his northern rebels hold out against the Norman war machine. Fighting treachery as well as Normans Aelfraed and his warriors bravely take the fight to the Normans. Forced to become outlaws they fight a rearguard action from the northern forests until William relentlessly hunts them down.

Sir Michael of Weedon might think that his service to the crown ended when the Queen died and he was no longer required as her knight. He is wrong, for his qualities as a true and loyal warrior mean that he can be trusted. King Henry and the Earl of Suffolk send him to France to recover a pyx. Before he can complete his task, he is conscripted back into the army and finds himself, once more, fighting alongside Sir John Talbot.

The world of Dragon Heart is thrown into confusion when they become the target of their Viking brothers. Raiders come from every direction to take what Dragon Heart and his people have built. This is the time of Viking fighting Viking for control of the land that will become England.

Sir Thomas and his new bride, Lady Margaret, have been forced to leave the Baltic. They cannot go to England and so he heads for Anjou where he hopes to take over the old manor of Sir Leofric. Upon his arrival, he finds himself thrown into a world of intrigue. Prince Arthur had been the chosen heir of King Richard but King John had taken not only the throne but also claimed the lands of Normandy, Maine and Anjou. Even before he has taken charge of his new manor, he finds threats from the French as well as King John.

Henry of Monmouth, Prince Hal, is barely recovered from a near-fatal wound when his father leaves him to retake his land. Owain Glendower and Edmund Mortimer, however, have French allies and the most inhospitable landscape to aid them. All that Prince Hal has to guide him is the guardian of kings, Will Strongstaff. The two of them have to fight treachery and those who count money as well as more traditional enemies, the Welsh archers.

There are plots to invade England and Normandy. There are assassination attempts and the only man who can stop all of these is the Earl of Cleveland. Moving from Scotland to Normandy and back again this is a fast moving novel set in the months before the civil war in England and Normandy begins.

When Jarl Gunnar Thorfinnson is killed by Saxons and his wife and son slain it throws the clan on Raven Wing Island into disarray. Internal divisions and strife is only stopped when Siggi White Hair becomes jarl. A raid on Frankia gives Hrolf the Horseman a vision of his dream of a new home. When treachery strikes and the Bretons attack it seems that all of his dreams will be destroyed before he can make them a reality.

When Sir William and his father, Sir Thomas of Stockton, the grandson of the Warlord, return from the crusade, they have to fight a new enemy: The Scots. Now that Queen Joan has died then King Alexander of Scotland is under the influence of the French. Sir William has to defend a perilously under protected border.

Sir John Hawkwood has almost all that he needs. He is the most respected and feared mercenary leader in Italy but he is surrounded by those who would do him and his family harm. He faces betrayal from friend and foe alike. His constants are his company and the leaders who fight for him. Treading a tightrope between warring factions that include the Pope and the Lord of Milan, Sir John Hawkwood decides to make the White Company into a warband and he becomes a warlord.

When men fight together, especially in a holy cause there is not only a bond but also an unspoken promise to come to the aid of their shield brother. When Birger Persson discovers that he is dying he asks his son to seek help from two old friends. One of them is Sir Thomas of Stockton. Events conspire to thwart Birger's son from reaching Sir Thomas and it is left to Sir William, Sir Thomas' son to effect a rescue of the Swedish knight.

The story of the last two Housecarls from Harold Godwinson's army who, forced from England by the Normans, journey down the Russian rivers to join the Varangian Guard where they fight, once more the Normans from Italy. The two men have to fight not only barbarians and the Empire's enemies but treachery from within the complex world of Byzantine politics. Culminating in the battle which finally drove the Normans back to Italy, the historically accurate book paints a picture of the dying world of the Saxon warriors.

It is 1941 and Britain is pressed on all sides. With Japan in the war and convoys being sunk by submarines and surface raiders the last bastion fighting Hitler is beleaguered. The Commandos are the only ones who can fight beyond the Atlantic Wall. Tom Harsker and his section are sent behind enemy lines to destroy gun emplacements and then rescue a captured Resistance leader. Then they are given the task of joining the Campbelltown Raid on St. Nazaire. There they find themselves in greater danger than ever before.

Will Strongstaff has achieved far more than he ever thought. He is a gentleman. He has land, a wife and children. Yet he is still a warrior. He still has an oath to honour. King Richard is now under the sway of the evil Earl of Oxford Robert de Vere. When the king’s cousin, Henry Bolingbroke, sends for Will to fight in Galicia for his father, John of Gaunt, then Will has to return to the world in which he grew up, the world of the hired sword. This time he not only has enemies on the battlefield but enemies closer to hand as murderers try to end the life of his new lord.

Kings make treaties but it is men who keep or break them. When Sir Thomas of Cleveland is given the task of policing the northern border, he is given a poisoned chalice. His son is given the northern manor of Elsdon and there he is on the front line. He has to fight bandits, enemy lords and traitors from within. Set in the harsh lands of the Scottish borders Sir William comes of age. He becomes a warrior who has the blood of the Warlord.

When the Queen of England dies then King Richard suddenly changes. He wreaks vengeance on all those who have slighted him, and only William Strongstaff and John of Gaunt are in a position to curb his excesses. Beginning in the Baltic, where there is a crusade against the Lithuanian pagans, the novel moves to England, Scotland and Ireland before the owner of the crown of England is decided.

The Christian armies of Spain are on the rise and are taking back the land controlled by the Taifa States. All seems well and the star that is Rodrigo de Vivar continues to rise. All of this ends when King Fernando dies, and his heirs begin a self-destructive civil war. Only the knight respected by both Christian and Muslim alike, the man known as El Campeador can unite the troubled land of Spain.

When the rebel leaders prove harder to eliminate than the rest of the mob, Lord Edward is helped in his quest by Pope Adrian V. In thanks, he agrees to join the Crusades with King Louis IX of France. The so-called holy war is a complex and punishing pursuit, and Lord Edward needs help in defeating the Mamluks. He calls upon his trusted comrade Gerald to lead a crusade of his own, to enlist the aid of Abaqa Khan, a Mongol leader and much needed ally. With miles of Muslim-controlled land to cross, can Gerald make the journey unscathed, and will his efforts help to turn the war?