Books by Bernard Cornwell

When Thomas saves a young Frenchwoman from a bloodthirsty crowd, her father rewards his bravery by joining him in the hunt for the mysterious dark knight and the stolen holy relic. What begins as a search for vengeance will soon prove the beginning of an even higher purpose: the quest for the Holy Grail itself.

The Nathaniel Starbuck Chronicles

Distinguished at the Battle of Cedar Mountain, Confederate Captain Nate Starbuck's career is jeopardized once again by the suspicion and hostility of his brigade commander, General Washington Faulconer. The outcome of this vicious fight drastically changes both men's fortunes and propels AX into the ghastly bloodletting at the Second Battle of Manassas.

Evocative and historically accurate, Battle Flag continues Bernard Cornwell's powerful series of Nate's adventures on some of the most decisive battlefields of the American Civil War.

Passion and Destiny

The civil war that is tearing England asunder in the year 1643 has not yet touched Dorcas Slythe, a secretly rebellious young Puritan woman living in the countryside south of London, who longs to escape the safe, pious tyranny of her father.

The chance appears with the arrival of Toby Lazender, dashing scion of a powerful royalist family. It is he who renames her "Campion," awakening her to a bold, hitherto unknown passion ... and to a mysterious and perilous destiny. With the discovery of an intricately wrought gold seal -- one of four that, when joined, will reveal a great secret and uncover an enormous fortune -- Campion's quest begins.

Love, riches, and redemption await her at the end of her perilous adventure. Or death.

A Crowning Mercy
a breathtaking adventure, both riveting and romantic,from Bernard Cornwell, bestselling masterof historical fiction, and Susannah Kells

The Reign of Terror has washed the streets of France blood-red. And in England a terrified aristocracy awaits the next blow.

Secure in their wealth and power, the noble Lazenders remain safe from history's violent storm behind the walls of their opulent "little kingdom." But theirs is a house under siege. With the family's heir, Toby Lazender, away in revolution-torn France hunting the brutal murderers of the woman he loved, a secret cabal of powerful and dangerous assassins -- the Fallen Angels -- conspires to bring the chaos to England's shores by seizing the vast resources of Lazen Castle.

And only one obstacle stands in their way: Toby's sister, Lady Campion Lazender. Caught in an ever-tightening net of conspiracy, Campion sees treachery all around her -- even as she follows a mysterious horseman into a realm of fascination and desire. And in the clashing of nations -- as traitors, spies, and their masters move furtively through the night -- Campion's heart could be leading her to destruction ... by the hand of one she trusts above all.

In the cobbled streets outside Newgate Prison, the common and desperate of London gather regularly to enjoy the spectacle of human necks broken at the end of a hangman's rope.For Rider Sandman, newly returned from the Napoleonic Wars, it is not grim entertainment that draws him here, but a mission to prove the guilt or innocence of a condemned prisoner -- a duty that leads Sandman from the hellish bowels of Newgate to the scented drawing rooms of the ruthless and powerful, and into the darkest shadows of the filthy, bustling city, in search of the truth.

Thomas of Hookton is a seasoned veteran of King Edward's army and a natural leader in what will be remembered as the Hundred Years' War. Accompanied by a small but able band of soldiers, Thomas is sent to Gascony to capture the castle of Astarac. But he has ulterior motives for accepting the charge: Gascony is the home of the black knight -- Guy de Vexille -- who brutally slaughtered his father. It is also reputed to be the place where the Grail was last seen.

While capturing Astarac, Thomas learns of a tragedy in the making: a beautiful young woman named Genevieve, innocent if not pious, is to be burned as a heretic. Thomas prevents the corrupt local priest from carrying out his "God -- given" duty -- a sacrilege that turns him into an outcast, even among his own men. Eventually he and Genevieve have no choice but to flee. While hidden away at a monastery, they learn of a plot involving the creation of an imitation Grail for a diabolical end; and they witness the murder of a trusted priest at the hands of Guy de Vexille.

At last reconciled with his allies, Thomas leads his brave band in a bloody battle to the death, the outcome of which could determine the seat of power -- and the direction of Christendom -- forevermore.

From the incomparable New York Times bestselling master of gripping adventure, Bernard Cornwell, comes a relentlessly suspenseful contemporary thriller set in the lethal world of international terror.

Bostonian Paul Shanahan is many things: part-time marine surveyor, smuggler, gunrunner, suspected CIA agent. A full-time scoundrel with ties to nothing and no one -- except to an ex-lover who died years before in a hail of bullets -- he has agreed to transport five million dollars in gold across the ocean by sailboat, money earmarked by the Irish Republican Army for the purchase of fifty-three Stinger missiles. Shanahan's instincts are telling him there's more to this deal below the surface and that he's not meant to survive after delivery. But, if he can elude British Intelligence and several terrorist organizations' most efficient killers -- and with only his life left to lose -- $5 million might just be enough to get a desperate rogue out of the game for good.

It is 1810, and in Napoleon's determination to conquer Portugal -- and push the British back to the sea -- he sends his largest army yet across the Spanish frontier. But between the Portuguese border and Napoleon's seemingly certain victory are two obstacles -- a wasted land, stripped of food by Wellington's orders, and Captain Richard Sharpe.

But Sharpe is in trouble. The captain of the Light Company is threatened from inside and out: First by an incompetent British officer, who by virtue of family connections is temporarily given Sharpe's command. An even greater danger is posed by two corrupt Portuguese brothers -- Major Ferreira, a high-ranking officer in the army of Portugal, and his brother, nicknamed "Ferragus" (after a legendary Portuguese giant), who prefer to rule by crude physical strength and pure intimidation. Together the brothers have developed a devious plot to ingratiate themselves with the French invaders who are threatening to become Portugal's new rulers.

Sharpe's interference in the first stage of their plan earns the undying enmity of the brothers. Ferragus vows revenge and plots a merciless trap that seems certain to kill Sharpe and his intimates. As the city of Coimbra is burned and pillaged, Sharpe and his companions plot a daring escape, ensuring that Ferragus will follow on toward Lisbon, into the jaws of a snare laid by Wellington that is meant to be a daring and ingenious last stand against the invaders. There, beneath the British guns, Sharpe is reunited with his shattered but grateful company, and meets his enemies in a thrilling and decisive fight.

Performed by Patrick Tull

Richard Sharpe and the Expedition to Copenhagen, 1807

The year is 1807, and Richard Sharpe is back in England, where his career seems to have come to a dead end, despite his heroics in Britain's recent victory at Trafalgar. Loveless, destitute, and relegated to the menial tasks of quartermaster, Sharpe roams the streets of London, pondering a bleak future away from the army.

Then, out of the blue, an old friend invites him to undertake a secret mission -- the delivery of a bribe -- to the Danish capital, Copenhagen. Denmark is officially neutral, but Napoleon is threatening an invasion in order to capture the powerful Danish fleet, which would replace the ships France lost in its disastrous defeat at Trafalgar. The British, fearing such enhancement of French power, threaten their own preemptive invasion, and Sharpe, whose errand seemed so simple, is trapped in a web of treachery that will end only when the city, which thought itself safe, is subjected to a brutal and merciless bombardment.

The year is 1805, and the Calliope, with Richard Sharpe aboard, is captured by a formidable French warship, the Revenant, which has been terrorizing British nautical traffic in the Indian Ocean. The French warship races toward the safety of its own fleet, carrying a stolen treaty that could provoke India into a new war against the British -- and render for naught all that Sharpe has bravely fought for till now.

But help comes from an unexpected quarter. An old friend, a captain in the Royal Navy, is on the trail of the Revenant, and Sharpe comes aboard a 74-gun man-of-war called Pucelle in hot pursuit. What results is a breathtaking retelling of one of the most ferocious and one-sided sea battles in European history, in which Nelson -- and Sharpe -- vanquish the combined naval might of France and Spain at Trafalgar.

Tragedy has decimated Tim Blackburn's safe and comfortable existence. Having already lost a son in a terrorist attack, he must now cope with the death of his beloved wife, killed in a mysterious explosion at sea. And all that remains of his destroyed family is his missing daughter Nicole, last seen in the company of Caspar von Rellsteb -- the mad, charismatic leader of the shadowy environmental activist group called Genesis -- who keeps an iron-fisted hold over his fanatically dedicated followers. Determined to free Nicole from the crazed, self-proclaimed "protector of the planet," Tim sets sail aboard the sloop Stormchild, with the beautiful, story-hungry journalist Jackie Potten. But their hunt for the hidden lair of Genesis is leading them into dangerous and terrifying waters -- and the darkness that waits for Tim Blackburn on the far side of the world could destroy both his sanity and his soul.

1347 is a year of war and unrest. England's army is fighting in France, encouraging the Scots to invade their old enemy. Thomas of Hookton, send back to England to follow an ancient trail which suggests his family once owned the Holy Grail, instead becomes embroiled in the savage fight when the Scots come to Durham. Out of the horror he finds a new companion for the quest, but also discovers a new enemy in a Dominican Inquisitor.

All Europe want the grail. Many may doubt it exists, but no one would willingly allow an enemy to find Christendom's most precious relic, and Thomas finds himself in a murderous race with the Inquisitor and with Guy de Vexille, the mysterious black rider who murdered Thomas' father.

Thomas' father bequeathed him a mysterious notebook which confirms the grail's existence and offers clues to where it might be hidden. But his rival have the advantage of the torture chamber of the Inquisition. Thomas, seeking help to decipher the book's cryptic pages, is delivered instead to his worst enemies.

He finds refuge in Brittany with the Countess of Armorica, but fate will not let him rest. He is thrust into one of the most desperate fights of the Hundred Years' War, the battle of la Roche-Derrien and, amidst the flames, arrows and butchery of that night he faces his enemies again.

Performed by Tim Pigott-Smith.