Showing results by author "Griff Hosker" in All Categories

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.

The story of a young illegitimate son of a Norman noble and the daughter of an English housecarl. Forced to be little more than a servant Robert fitz Malet shows the world and his half brothers that he has qualities which mark him as different. When he meets the famous troubadour, Taillefer, he becomes one of the most skilled swordsmen in Duke William's army as they prepare to invade England and claim the crown promised to him by King Edward.

The British Army at the end of the nineteenth century was not a fair place. Despite the reforms, a bad officer could still ruin men's lives and Jack Roberts discovers that despite being a hero of Rorke's Drift, that means nothing when a superior has influence. He becomes a soldier serving in the Egyptian campaign where he learns not only new skills but how to deal with the new responsibility fatherhood brings. Throughout it all one thing is constant, he is a soldier of the queen, a redcoat with a rifle.

King Stephen is captured and the Civil War seems over until disaster strikes while the Earl of Cleveland is in Normandy. The Empress' forces are routed and the Earl of Gloucester is captured. Forced to return to rescue the Empress the Earl of Cleveland has to fight King Stephen's army and the English winter to rescue his Empress. With the future King Henry II as his squire the Earl has to wage a war against an increasing number of enemies and a diminishing number of allies.

The tide is turning, and the forces of the Empress are making inroads into King Stephen's lands. The Warlord of the North rides south to help the Earl of Gloucester with one final push to dislodge the Usurper, but fate has a twist in the tail.

King Richard is barely buried when the men who opposed him plot and plan to remove the new King, Henry Bolingbroke! With enemies in the north and the west, the new king and his son, Henry of Monmouth, find themselves besieged on all sides not knowing whom they can trust. William Strongstaff, now a lord, is the only one they can truly rely upon, and any thoughts of hanging up his sword are forgotten as King Henry sends the former royal bodyguard to help his son and quash a Welsh rebellion.

Jarl Dragon Heart has taken to the seas. With his wolf warriors, he raids further afield than ever before as he seeks his destiny. He has to fight new enemies as well as treacherous former allies. The Norns weave their webs and the Vikings discover the Middle Sea and Africa before they find themselves at the court of Nikephoros 1, the Emperor of Byzantium. A vast moving novel filled with battles both at sea and on land as the Viking Wolf unleashes his pack on the world.

13th Century, Wales and England. To young Gruffyd, life has been unkind. Eking out a meagre living with his father, he has learned very quickly how to look after himself in the hostile borderlands. His father, an archer, has taught him well, and at 17 Gruffyd is a keen and able bowman. Young, loyal and skilled, it’s not long before Gruffyd finds himself following in his father’s footsteps, working as an archer in the bordering castle. But tragedy strikes when his lord commits a devastating deed, and Gruffyd is forced to make a life altering decision.

Sir John Hawkwood is not getting any younger but he is now the supreme condottiero, not only in Italy but the whole of Europe. When the two rival popes try to manipulate him he has to use new skills to outwit them. He finds himself facing almost insurmountable odds when he is attacked by the Milanese and Veronese. He faces defeat at Castagnaro but his mind is as sharp as ever. Sir John Hawkwood shows his rivals why he is the best.

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.

The first attempt by the Norse explorers to settle in the New World has ended in disaster. With most of their better warriors dead in a battle with the Penobscot tribe, the survivors decide to head home across the wide and empty seas. They would risk a battle with King Harald Finehair. What they do not know is that they have left their Navigator alone and surrounded by enemies.

King Æthelred was the worst King of England but, in his second son, Edmund Ironside, was a king in the mould of King Alfred. Prince Cnut has his own problems, for his brother refuses to share the crown of Denmark with him. It is Sven Saxon Sword, wielding Oathsword, who orchestrates the campaign that brings the Danish fleet to invade England. The oath he made on the sword is now a fetter, tethering him to the fate of Prince Cnut of Denmark.

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.

Betrayal by friend and foe alike beset Sir John Hawkwood as he enters the murky world of Italian politics. He will emerge from the experience as a true leader of men but first he has to outwit his enemies of which there are many. With Montferrat secured from the Savoyards and with the White Company now firmly in his hands, Sir John Hawkwood leads his men to Pisa where they have been hired to fight the Florentines. The hero of Poitiers is about to enter a world of treachery, intrigue and double dealing for which he is quite unprepared.

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.

When the Earl of Gloucester suddenly dies and the Empress Matilda is forced to return to Normandy it seems that the civil war is about to end and Stephen of Blois will have succeeded in winning his crown. The Warlord of the North takes the fledgling Prince Henry under his wing and begins to train him to become king. When others try to take advantage of the Warlord's position he and his warriors have to dig deep to defeat their enemies. Gradually Henry becomes a man and shows that he has the potential to become a king.

When Prince Arthur is murdered and the French begin to take Normandy, Sir Thomas finds himself isolated and alone. The Norman barons conspire against King John and the English knight has a dilemma. Does he join the rebels or stay true to his beliefs? Undefeated he and one of his knights leave Anjou and sail to a new life in England but it is not a life without trouble and death. He finds himself, in the midst of conspiracies and plots, forced to defend his land against bandits, brigands and the Scots.

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.

With the Empress Matilda about to marry the Count of Anjou, Alfraed is thrown into a world of intrigue and treachery as he tries to hold on to the north with depleted numbers of warriors. When he succeeds he finds that he is punished and sent to the east by King Henry and his family held hostage in the Tower of London. He finds himself embroiled in plots and campaigns there where he finally serves with his father's old comrades: the Varangian Guards. After a journey home which is fraught with danger he finally rescues his family and returns to his beloved castle.

With ample fortunes garnered as a Sword for Hire and a loving wife now at his side, Captain James Bretherton at last looks to the prospect of leaving the world of war; instead, becoming a man who trains others to fight. Any plans for an easier life are soon thwarted however, when King Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden seeks Bretherton’s services. In his fight for the Protestant cause, Adolphus is eager to strengthen the backbone of his army and for that he needs Captain James; he needs a Captain of Horse.