Showing results by author "Griff Hosker" in All Categories

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 third audiobook in Griff Hosker's exhilarating Soldier of the Queen series.

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.

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.

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 Vikings on the Cotentin try to live in peace with their neighbours, the Franks, but when they are attacked they have to fight. Aided by fellow Vikings they begin to make inroads into the land of the Franks until disaster strikes and the new allies meet defeat. When the full force of the Franks descends upon the Haugr every member of the clan must fight to prevent their extinction.

The Scots have decided to take advantage of the Civil War in England and King David invades. The only opposition to his mighty army of 26,000 men is the Warlord of the North and an ancient Archbishop of York. With cruel invaders rampaging through northern England and ravaging the land, enemies must join together to fight off the enemy who threaten to take half of the land.

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.

Sir William Strongstaff is dead, and the defender of England and its kings is no longer there to battle the French. His chosen knight, Sir Michael of Weedon, is removed as the new king’s bodyguard, and he is sent to France, where the king’s uncles are trying to finish the job begun by King Henry V. From the outset, Sir Michael and his men are beset by treachery and intrigue. The line between ally and enemy appears to be almost invisible. The struggle is not only for England’s crown, but also the French one!

The world of Dragon Heart is thrown into confusion when they become the target of their Viking brothers. Raiders come from every direction to take what Dragon Heart and his people have built. This is the time of Viking fighting Viking for control of the land that will become England.

The Earl of Cleveland has managed to put himself in King John's good graces just at the time when other barons decide to rebel. They seek more land and power. The newly appointed Earl is caught in the middle. When the Scots begin to raid once more, Sir Thomas is forced to rally the loyal knights of the north and repel them. Following the actual history which led to the Magna Carta and beyond this fast-moving novel moves from Scotland to Wales and Northampton and Lincoln. It culminates in the battle of Lincoln 1217, when the French army attempted to conquer England.

Captain Gerald has proven himself an unrivalled archer, but now he is married, he longs to enjoy life's simpler pursuits, raising a family and tending his land. But life on the borderlands brings complications, and King Edward has different ideas for Gerald. Prince Llywelyn of Wales will not toe the line, and once more, Gerald is chosen as royal envoy. He must cross the treacherous Welsh Marches to make strategic allegiances and request Llywelyn bend the knee to the English crown.

Alfraed is now the Earl of Cleveland but his new position throws him into a world of intrigue. There are plots and coups as the enemies of England try to wrest the land from King Henry. The Earl has to fight the Scots, the Welsh and Vikings before he travels to Normandy to fight alongside the king. Filled with battles and knightly combat, the fast-moving novel reflects the chaotic times before the first English Civil War.

Poitiers was in the past, but it changed the life of Sir John Hawkwood, for he gained his spurs and that was another step on his journey. Once he realised that he had more ambition than just to serve the king of England, he joined forces with Albert Sterz and formed a company of mercenaries who hired out their swords. Fighting for the king of England against Burgundy, they gained a reputation which made others both fear and hate them in equal measure.

The journey of Erik the Viking is almost done but the Norns have not yet finished spinning and their webs threaten to engulf Erik, his family and his growing clan. He may be getting old, but Erik is still a force to be reckoned with and when others falter, the last Viking in the New World is there to steer the clan to safety. This is the last audiobook in the saga that has been the story of Erik the Navigator.

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.

Kings make treaties but it is men who keep or break them. When Sir Thomas of Cleveland is given the task of policing the northern border, he is given a poisoned chalice. His son is given the northern manor of Elsdon and there he is on the front line. He has to fight bandits, enemy lords and traitors from within. Set in the harsh lands of the Scottish borders Sir William comes of age. He becomes a warrior who has the blood of the Warlord.

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.

James of Ecclestone thought that when Perkin Warbeck was executed his days as a spy were over. He was wrong. Kings do not forget men who are useful to them and James was a master of his craft. Wanting nothing more than a life of peace with a new family James is thrown into the maelstrom of politics, intrigue and knives in the night.

England has a new King. Henry is the young son of King John. Guided by a Council of regents and the Earl Marshal he has a divided England to heal. When William Marshal gives Sir Thomas, Earl of Cleveland, the responsibility of making the young King a warrior, he sets in motion a series of events which, although they might begin to heal the kingdom will bring pain to the Earl and his family.