The eighth gripping adventure in David Gilman's critically acclaimed Master of War series set in fourteenth-century Europe.
Bordeaux, 1367. Having angered the bloodthirsty Don Pedro, King of Castile, Sir Thomas Blackstone is thoroughly sick of his mission for the Prince of Wales, but must remain true to his oath.
But this is the Hundred Years' War, and tensions are rising once more. With the Prince of Wales deeply unpopular in his Aquitainian lands, Blackstone, King Edward's Master of War, must return to French soil to help stem the tide of support for the King of France.
Meanwhile, Henry, Blackstone's son, faces an incognito ride across France with his own motley band of outlaws and mercenaries. But the French are aware of the younger Blackstone's journey, and see a perfect way to target the Master of War.
Praise for the author: 'A gripping ride' WILBUR SMITH
'Gilman does heart pounding action superlatively' THE TIMES
'A gripping chronicle of pitched battle, treachery and cruelty' ROBERT FABBRI
'The level of suspense is ratcheted up to a truly brutal level' SHARON PENMAN
Dan Raglan, former Foreign Legion fighter, alias The Englishman, returns. The new high-octane international thriller from David Gilman. Someone's going to start a war. And Raglan's just walked into the kill zone. It has been many years since Dan Raglan served in the French Foreign Legion, but the bonds forged in adversity are unbreakable and when one of his comrades calls for help, Raglan is duty-bound to answer. An ex-legionnaire, now an intelligence officer at the Pentagon, disappears. He leaves only this message: should he ever go missing, contact Raglan. But Raglan's not the only one looking for the missing man. From the backstreets of Marseilles, Raglan finds himself following a trail of death that will lead him to Florida, to the camaraderie of a Vietnam vet in Washington D.C., and into the heart of a bitter battle in the upper echelons of the US intelligence community. Pursued by both the CIA and a rogue female FBI agent, Raglan's search will place him in the cross hairs of an altogether more lethal organisation. Tracking his old comrade, he finds himself in the midst of deadly conspiracy, and on a journey to a fatal confrontation deep in the Honduran rainforest.
The seventh instalment of David Gilman's gripping chronicle of the Hundred Years' War, following Thomas Blackstone, Edward III's Master of War.
Winter, 1364. Sir Thomas Blackstone, Edward III's Master of War, has travelled to France to secure Brittany for England. In the throes of battle, he rescues a Castilian boy, Lazaro, who just witnessed the murder of the young queen. It is suspected that the king - along with Velasquita Alcon de Lugo, the beautiful witch who serves him - assassinated his queen. But Lazaro knows that is not the case.
With the king in hiding and the French army advancing Castile is on its knees. So Blackstone is ordered to Castile, to defend England's ally from the French.
Accompanied only by a small band of his men and a group of Moorish cavalrymen loyal to the king, Blackstone must protect Lazaro if they are to uncover the true assassin. They will face extreme danger, savage battles and a cold and bitter winter on their journey, and Blackstone will find himself the assassin's target. For the Master of War, the shadow of death is always present.
2021 Head of Zeus
Frankreich, 1362: Thomas Blackstone und seine Gefährten geleiten eine Edeldame und ihren Sohn in Richtung Avignon zur schützenden Hand von Papst Urban V. - doch auf Geheiß seines Königs soll Blackstone den Count of Foix in den Pyrenäen unterstützen. Blackstone übernimmt das Kommando in der Schlacht von Launac. Gerade rechtzeitig vor der Ankunft des Prince of Wales kann er die Franzosen zurückschlagen. Aber er wird schwer verwundet. Nach Monaten der Genesung erfährt er von Plänen, den Prince of Wales in Bergerac und zugleich seinen Sohn Henry in Avignon zu ermorden ...
Jeremy Summers, a British banker with a secret that could reveal MI6 intelligence sources involved in the war against drug-funded terrorism has been seized at gunpoint, in broad daylight, on the streets of west London. An old contact, Raglan - an Englishman who served in the French Foreign Legion - is on his trail.
Raglan's pursuit will lead him to the winter-ravaged wasteland of a remote Russian penal colony. A place that holds Russia's most brutal murderers. A place of death and retribution. How will he get in? More importantly, how will he get out... alive?
PRAISE FOR DAVID GILMAN:
'A gripping ride' Wilbur Smith.
'Gilman does heart-pounding action superlatively' The Times.
'Page-turning and gritty' Daily Mail.
The Hundred Years War still rages on and the French army thirsts for Thomas Blackstone's blood. Blackstone battles to strengthen Edwards III's claim to the throne and confronts the might of the French army. But, when his friend turns assassin, Blackstone is faced with an impossible choice: to save the English prince or sacrifice his son. Will he abandon his sworn oath to protect the future King of England? Or will he protect his family at the cost of the nation?
Praise for the author: "I'd never thought that another writer could rival Bernard Cornwell ... The level of suspense is ratcheted up to a truly brutal level" SHARON PENMAN.
"A gripping ride" WILBUR SMITH.
"Gilman does heart pounding action superlatively" THE TIMES.
"Page-turning and gritty" DAILY MAIL.
"Like a punch from a mailed fist, Master of War gives a true taste of the Hundred Years War. It is a gripping chronicle of pitched battle, treachery and cruelty" ROBERT FABBRI.
PARIS, 1943. The swastika flies from the top of the Eiffel Tower. Soldiers clad in field grey patrol the streets. Buildings have been renamed, books banned, art stolen and people disappeared. Amongst the missing is an Allied intelligence cell. Gone to ground? Betrayed? Dead? Britain's Special Operations Executive need to find out. They recruit ex-Parisian and Bletchley Park codebreaker Harry Mitchell to return to the city he fled two years ago. Mitchell knows Occupied Paris - a city at war with itself. Informers, gangsters, collaborators and Resistance factions are as ready to slit each other's throats as they are the Germans'. The occupiers themselves are no better: the Gestapo and the Abwehr - military intelligence - are locked in their own lethal battle for dominance. Mitchell knows the risks: a return to Paris not a mission - it's a death sentence. But he has good reason to put his life on the line: the wife and daughter he was forced to leave behind have fallen into the hands of the Gestapo and Mitchell will do whatever it takes to save them. But with disaster afflicting his mission from the outset, it will take all his ingenuity, all his courage, to even get into Paris... unaware that every step he takes towards the capital is a step closer to a trap well set and baited.
Frankreich, 1361. Zwischen England und Frankreich wurde vorläufig Frieden geschlossen. Dennoch lehnen sich viele Fürsten gegen die Besatzer auf, und wilde Heere ziehen plündernd umher. Das wollen Thomas Blackstone und seine Männer verhindern. Sie ahnen nicht, dass die französische Armee angewiesen wurde, sie trotz des Friedensschlusses bei der ersten Gelegenheit zu vernichten. Als Thomas sich deshalb mit dem verschlagenen Söldner Gruffydd ap Madoc zusammentun muss und sein Sohn Henry von Auftragsmördern bedroht wird, zieht sich das Netz um den erfolgreichen Heerführer langsam, aber sicher zusammen ...
France, 1356.
Ten years ago, the greatest army in Christendom was slaughtered at Crecy when Thomas Blackstone and his fellow archers stood their ground and rained death on the steel-clad might of French chivalry. Blackstone left that squalid field a knight. Now, Blackstone commands a war band and has carved out a small fiefdom in northern France. But the wounds of war still bleed and a traitor has given the King of France the means to destroy first his family, and then the English knight himself. As the traitor's net tightens, so the French King's army draws in.
Blackstone will stand and fight-in pitched battle and in single combat. He will defy his friends, his family, and his king. He may yet defy death, but he can't defy his destiny as Blackstone: Master of War.
Tuscany, 1358: Thomas Blackstone has built a formidable reputation in exile, fighting as a mercenary amid the ceaseless internecine warring of Italy's City States. But success has bred many enemies, and when a dying man delivers a message recalling him to England, it seems almost certain to be a trap. Yet Blackstone cannot disobey-the summons is at the Queen's demand.
On his journey, Blackstone will brave the terrors of the High Alps in winter, face the Black Prince in tournament, confront the bloody anarchy of a popular revolt and submit to trial by combat.
And every step of the way, he will be shadowed by a notorious assassin with orders to dispatch him to Hell.
England, 1346: for Thomas Blackstone the choice is easy-dance on the end of a rope for a murder he did not commit, or take up his war bow and join the king's invasion of France.As he fights his way across northern France, Blackstone will learn the brutal lessons of war-from the terror and confusion of his first taste of combat, to the savage realities of siege warfare.Vastly outnumbered, Edward III's army will finally confront the armored might of the French nobility on the field of Crecy. It is a battle that will change the history of warfare, a battle that will change the course of Blackstone's life, a battle that is just the first chapter in a book of legend-Blackstone: Master of War.
Frankreich 1359: Im Dienste der englischen Krone kämpfen sich Thomas Blackstone und seine Männer bis nach Paris vor. Doch die Hauptstadt ist uneinnehmbar. Allerdings besteht der Prinz von Wales darauf, die ungeschützten Vorstädte dem Erdboden gleichzumachen. Thomas sieht dem Gemetzel angewidert zu bis ein gewaltiger, vernichtender Sturm aufzieht. Da bietet sich Thomas eine einmalige Chance: Er erhält den Auftrag, nach Mailand zu reisen, und sieht die Zeit seiner Rache gekommen. Schließlich gaben die Visconti einst den Mord an zwei Menschen in Auftrag, die er mehr liebte als sein Leben. Der vierte Teil der 'Legenden des Krieges' wird wieder spannend gelesen von Wolfgang Berger, der schon Teil 1-3 seine Stimme lieh.
