Griff Hosker

King in Waiting

Lord Edward's Archer

In 1335 the Black Death was just thirteen years away from England but there were other threats and dangers. Young John Hawkwood is forced to leave his home and seek a life in London. There he learns how to survive and, more importantly, how to fight. Leaving his life as an apprentice tailor he follows the army and King Edward to fight the Scots. He has a skill; he can not only use a bow, but he can use a sword and his mind. It is the start of a life of war for the young man.He fights first in the Low Countries at the battle of Cadzand before heading to Gascony to fight under the charismatic leader and cousin of the King, Lord Henry Plantagenet. As he fights so his skills improve and the novel follows his progress until he fights in the two great battles of 1346, Crécy and Neville's Cross.This is just the start for John Hawkwood who will become, in the fullness of time, one of the greatest condottiere the world has ever seen, a man who, at the Battle of Castagnaro in 1387, shows the world that he was a great leader, too.

The Age of the Archer

Crécy

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.We see the troubles of Spain through the eyes of the man who trained Rodrigo, William Redbeard, and it is through him that we see the effect the civil war has on the ordinary people. When King Sancho is murdered then all hope seems to disappear and Rodrigo and Will Redbeard have to choose which side they are on.

El Campeador

The legend that was El Cid began more than a thousand years ago and time has meant that reality and fiction are intertwined like the threads of a spider's web.This is the story of a time when brother fought brother and Christian fought Christian. Power was all and Spain was riven by strife which was political, religious and familial! One man came from the harsh land of Castile to make one land and one state. Spain truly began with Rodrigo Diaz de Vivar, El Campeador, El Cid.His story is told through the eyes of the warrior who spent his life at his side. William Redbeard came from humble origins but he was destined for greatness too as he walked in the seemingly endless shadow of El Cid.This first instalment in the Chronicles tells of Rodrigo's rise to prominence when he became the champion of Prince Sancho of Castile. This is but the beginning of a tale which still stirs the blood a millennium after it began.

Castilian Knight

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, Henry Bolingbroke.

To Murder a King

The last time an English King had come to France it had been led by the Black Prince. Now a new King, a throwback to those days contemplated retaking what he believed to be his birthright!King Henry Vth of England plans to do just that but disease and sickness robs him of half his army. Forced to flee north as his predecessor had done the English and Welsh army is surrounded on all sides and a host even greater than that which fought at Crécy awaits them. When St Crispin's Day dawns the beleaguered English are ready to die and prepared to fight to the last. The incredible story of how a handful of men at arms and less than 5,000 archers defeated over 20,000 men at arms and 20,000 other warriors. The story of how a King won a crown!

St Crispin's Day

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 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. As the two of them fight together the young prince learns the skills which will help him, in the fullness to time and when his King of England, to not only defeat but to crush and humiliate the French at the Battle of Agincourt.This is the story of how a prince became a general and how he learned to fight!

The Road to Agincourt

King Henry V has defeated the French but he has yet to grasp the crown of France. He returns to finish the job which was begun at Agincourt. At his side is his mentor, Sir William Strongstaff, Knight of the Garter. The oldest man in the army he has yet to become a mere observer and he is sent on a diplomatic mission to Burgundy and an alliance with Duke John the Fearless. When the Scots ally with the French and kill the King's brother in battle it seems that the campaign is over but the English archers and men at arms show their enemies that they reign supreme on the battlefield. Concluding at the battle of Verneuil, The Battle for France takes England a little closer to the crown of France.

The Battle for France

Targets of Treachery 

Sent into exile once more Don Rodrigo de Vivar has just Will Redbeard and two warriors for companions. Over the next years, he creates the legend of El Cid defeating enemy after enemy. Fighting overwhelming odds, he succeeds every time until, at last, he has his fiefdom of Valencia. This is the final chronicle in the series and details the last eighteen years of the life of the man known as El Cid. Although this is the last in the series it is a stand-alone book. Forget the film and read the reality of the man who was the greatest knight of his age; some would say, any age!

The Lord of Valencia

It's 1940 and the British Expeditionary Force is caught ill prepared for the onslaught of the German Blitzkrieg and its deadly panzers. Caught in the desperate retreat to Dunkirk, Tom Harsker, son of a World War 1 ace, discovers he is a natural soldier. Escaping to England and with complete disaster narrowly averted, Tom is selected to join the newly formed Commandos. With Britain standing alone and the seemingly inexorable German forces massing across the Channel for invasion, Tom and his fellow Commandos must battle against all odds in daring raids to buy precious time.

Commando

It is 1941 and Britain is pressed on all sides. With Japan in the war and convoys being sunk by submarines 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 on a daring mission that will place them in great danger.

Behind Enemy Lines

It is 1940 and Britain is fighting alone against the Germans. With the RAF fighting above the skies of England it is down to the Commandos to go back to France and cause as much trouble to the Germans as possible. When the Italians join in alongside the Germans it seems that Britain is about to sink beneath a sea of Fascists. A fast moving novel which follows one section of Commandos as they fight in France and North Africa.

Raider

Lieutenant Harsker and his elite Commandos are given no respite as they are sent behind enemy lines to help the Canadians on the ill fated attack at Dieppe. After escaping, by the skin of their teeth, they are sent to North Africa to destroy valuable equipment which has fallen into the enemy's hands. A fast moving novel the action moves from Europe to Africa and from sea to land.

Dieppe

D-Day is approaching and the Commandos are needed not only to attack the Atlantic all but to discover what will be waiting for them when they do attack. Based on actual battlefield detail this is a fast moving novel which culminates in the attack on Sword Beach in 1944.

Sword Beach

Tom Harsker and his section now operate out of Malta as they help to prepare the way for the invasion of Sicily. Sent first by boat and then by air they have to survive behind enemy lines before being sent in before the main force to attack the Axis forces at Salerno. A fast moving book which follows the actual events of 1943.

Toehold in Europe

With Paris in Allied hands it seems as though the war is almost over but when the Airborne Brigade fail to capture Arnhem then Tom and his Commandos become part of the force which is sent to capture Antwerp and the islands which guard the mouth of the Scheldt River. Based on the actual amphibious landing this fast moving novel shows the battles, the raids and the strategy which led to the capture of this vital port and helped to shorten the war.

The Battle for Antwerp

D-day is over but the Germans still have the allies ringed in a tiny part of Normandy. The Commandos are given a task to go behind the enemy lines to destroy a fuel dump. They become part of the force which closes the Falaise Gap and endure the horrific fighting against the elite S.S. Concluding with the liberation Paris this is a fast moving novel which portrays the lives of ordinary soldiers as they do extraordinary things.

Breakout

The war might be coming to an end but the missions do not get any easier for Tom Harsker and his elite Commando unit. With new men to replace the dead they are sent to destroy a factory making parts for V-2. As the war enters its final months they are attached to the 1st Commando Brigade in Montgomery's Army and they lead the drive to the German heartland. Tasked with trying to save the lives of as many of the inmates of a death camp they have to go deeper behind enemy lines and, once again face the S.S. A fast-moving novel which brings the Commando's war to an end.

Griff Hosker

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