Vagabond (Windsor Selection) [Import] [Hardcover]

Bernard Cornwell (Author)

Product Details

• Hardcover: 480 pages
• Publisher: Chivers Large print (Chivers, Windsor, Paragon & C; Large Print Ed edition (November 1, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0754018369
• ISBN-13: 978-0754018360
• Shipping Weight: 1.7 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (50 customer reviews)

More About the Author

Bernard Cornwell was born in London in 1944 - a 'warbaby' - whose father was a Canadian airman and mother in Britain's Women's Auxiliary Air Force. He was adopted by a family in Essex who belonged to a religious sect called the Peculiar People (and they were), but escaped to London University and, after a stint as a teacher, he joined BBC Television where he worked for the next 10 years. He began as a researcher on the Nationwide programme and ended as Head of Current Affairs Television for the BBC in Northern Ireland. It was while working in Belfast that he met Judy, a visiting American, and fell in love. Judy was unable to move to Britain for family reasons so Bernard went to the States where he was refused a Green Card. He decided to earn a living by writing, a job that did not need a permit from the US government - and for some years he had been wanting to write the adventures of a British soldier in the Napoleonic wars - and so the Sharpe series was born. Bernard and Judy married in 1980, are still married, still live in the States and he is still writing Sharpe.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

18 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Thomas of Hookton's Quest Continues, December 22, 2002

By 

charles falk (Novato, CA USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Vagabond (The Grail Quest, Book 2) (Hardcover)

Vagabond is the second book in the Thomas of Hookton saga (now called the "Grail Quest Series") by Bernard Cornwell. It confirms what I said in reviewing The Archer's Tale: that Thomas is an engaging picaresque hero and a worthy successor to Richard Sharpe, central character of Cornwell's earlier series on the Napoleonic Wars.

Thomas is an English archer through whose eyes we witness numerous battles early in the Hundred Years' War. He is also the illegimate son of the Hookton priest who was, strangely enough, a member of the French nobility and the keeper of a mysterious relic. We left Thomas in The Archer's Tale, shortly after the battle of Crecy, still seeking his cousin Guy de Vexille, Count of Astarac, who years earlier had murdered his father and destroyed the village of Hookton.

In Vagabond, Thomas has returned to Britain on a mission for Edward III to discover the whereabouts of his father's relic and to determine whether it is truly the Holy Grail of legend. The book begins in 1347 at the battle of Neville's Cross, a triumph of English bowmen over a superior force of Scots who invaded Britain on behalf of their French allies. It ends back in Brittany after the siege of La Roche-Derrien. In the course of the story Thomas runs afoul of a vicious English knight nicknamed Scarecrow, the Inquistion ( which is also on the Grail's trail), not to mention his cousin and several enemy armies. Along the way his wife-to-be and several friends are killed. Thomas, like Sharpe, seems to lead a charmed life, but those around him are not so lucky.

Vagabond is first-rate historical fiction, chock-a-block full of gory medieval warfare set in vividly-described English and Breton landscapes. Everyone rightly praises Cornwell's mastery of historical minutia, but I think his strongest storytelling gift is his ability to make his readers see, and feel, and smell a scene. At the book's end Thomas has learned more about his heritage and vanquished many enemies, but the quest for the Grail and his father's muderer will be continued.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Arrows and Crosses, November 17, 2007

By 

Gary Griffiths (Los Altos Hills, CA United States) - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Vagabond (The Grail Quest, Book 2) (Paperback)

If we were taught history the way Bernard Cornwell writes it, we'd all be historians. "Vagabond", the middle of Cornwell's superb "Grail Quest" series, is as raucous, brutal and riveting as the best contemporary thrillers, yet manages to stay close to the historical record, slashing and burning life and meaning into the early days of what would later be called "The Hundred Year's War". I was mesmerized by the prequel, "The Archers Tale", finding it the most illuminating and insightful primer of Medieval England found between pages. But after reading "Vagabond", I'm convinced that only a time machine could deliver a more vivid description of love, war, politics, and religion in those turbulent, treacherous times.

Back from "Archer" is Thomas of Hookton, the English archer whose black-yew bow makes widows of enemies while he is half-heartedly seeking the Holy Grail, part of his family's history that Thomas would prefer didn't exist. Instead, he continues on a more personal quest, hunting down his murderous cousin Guy Vexille who torched Thomas' village and murdered his father while seeking the Grail for himself.

In "Vagabond", it is 1347 and Cornwell resumes his tale in northern England. King Edward III, still in France holding down his conquests in Normandy and Brittany, has apparently left his northern flank exposed, inviting the Scots, with some prodding from their French allies, to stream into a vulnerable England. Cornwell's description of the very real Battle of Neville's Cross between the Scots and an outmanned English army is a literary classic, from the strategy and tactics to the stink and gore of war fought helmet-to-helmet and shield-to-shield in violence and carnage simply unimaginable in today's gentler times. But aside from documenting the mechanics and horrors of war in the 14th century, Cornwell, as usual, spins his fiction in a fascinating backdrop of the culture and lore of the period. The power of the Church, as well as the hypocrisy, is never quite as disturbing as when told by Cornwell, burnished in this episode by the righteousness terror of the Inquisition. Indeed, the medieval punching bag Thomas finds little respite this time around, having his suffering delivered by the hand of a sadistic priest.

In short, if you love an action-packed page-turner, but prefer some education and even a bit of history infused with your time spent reading, I couldn't recommend a better author than Bernard Cornwell, and a better saga than "The Grail Series". This one just may be the best of the bunch, but then, I'm looking forward to giving sequel "The Heretic" a chance to better it.

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Cornwell works his magic to create a captivating story, January 11, 2003

By 

Bookreporter (New York, New York) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Vagabond (The Grail Quest, Book 2) (Hardcover)

Last year, Bernard Cornwell introduced Thomas of Hookton, a young English archer. He filled the pages with great adventure, gory battle scenes, distressed damsels, armored knights, wayward bishops and beleaguered castles. Now, Thomas returns to England after a victory in the famed battle at Crecy, France. He bears a letter from the bishop and King Edward III that is meant to gain him an audience with an old priest who, it's been rumored, has knowledge of the Holy Grail --- the object of Thomas's quest. Of course, he must fight his way there. After the surprising outcome of the battle at Durham, Thomas forms an odd alliance with Scotsman Robbie Douglas. The two set out on their crusade, a crusade of revenge for several recent deaths, coupled with the hunt for the holy treasure. Their journey takes them back to Hookton first, where Thomas recovers a book written by Father Ralph, his father, who was killed by cousin Guy Vexille (in the opening of THE ARCHER'S TALE). The tome, an apparent clue in the puzzle of the Grail's whereabouts, baffles Thomas --- and later, others --- with its cryptic passages. With book in hand, he and Robbie make the perilous crossing to France over stormy seas, dodging pirates and French war ships, forced into the fray upon landing. They hook up with some of Thomas's old friends and fight some new battles. The quest continues --- and probably will again in Cornwell's third installment in the Grail Series, which is sure to be as eagerly awaited once readers have feasted on VAGABOND.

Cornwell recreates, with brutal realism, the battles stretching across 1346 and 1347. He vividly imagines the gruesome skirmishes, flaying his readers open with horrific details. The most feared battlefield weapon, the longbow, comes into bright focus through Cornwell's words. I gained a new respect for archers. While I am no fan of war stories (due mostly to a squeamish temperament), the tale of young Thomas is utterly captivating. Despite the repugnance of the cruelest scenes, I reminded myself that the violence and savagery are an integral part of the story. In truth, it would be hard to call it a war if there was no pain, carnage or death.

Before the fighting, the men are whipped into a frenzy with exhortations of "Kill them! Kill them all! The lord will reward you for every Englishman (or Scotsman, or Frenchman) slaughtered!" The hatred is fierce and very personal. Without knowing the enemy's face, swordsmen slash with heated vehemence at their opposition, butchering men and animals, all in the name of righteousness. It struck me as a medieval jihad and hammered home the point that man has been fighting holy wars for centuries. Despite the ugliness of the subject, VAGABOND reads fast and leaves one immensely satisfied with the story.

It is indeed a pleasure learning to love history through Bernard Cornwell's work. He takes an otherwise dry subject (to me, at least), works his storytelling magic and turns it into high entertainment. I greedily look forward to being among his audience when he releases the next in the series.

--- Reviewed by Kate Ayers