Man at Arms: The Battle of Poitiers

Sir John Hawkwood, Book 2

By: Griff Hosker

Narrated by: Marston York

Length: 9 hrs and 22 mins

Publisher's summary

The Black Death! England has won the war with France, but the disease which rampages through the land takes both rich and poor, warrior and worker. John Hawkwood and his two companions spend the winter in the north.

It is in the spring that he begins to mould his company into a fighting force, and he serves the Baron Mortimer on the Welsh Border. There his men learn to fight as one, and John Hawkwood begins the change from archer to man at arms.

When the king and the Black Prince commission him to fight for them, first in an action against the Castilian pirates and then on a chevauchée through Gascony, he learns the skill of leadership.

©2020 Griff Hosker (P)2021 W F Howes

Had not heard a historic retelling of the Battle of Portier . . .

I like this series so far have listened to the first two books as audio, not quite as good. A story told as with Bernard Cornwell and I’m learning to like this author.

Man at Arms

Both of the books in the John Hawkwood series were great. I throughly enjoyed them both. Hoping there are more to come in the series.

Narration is key to a great story!

What a great author who takes the time and effort to bring life and emotions to the one-dimensional history taught in school.

Odins view

good story, great narration
as was first book of this series, looking forward to the next.

Engrossing story

I listen to the sample before buying an audiobook, as the quality of the narrator can make or break the story. Mr. York has embodied the tales of John Hawkwood for me and I look for his narration on all of said stories.

Excellent

As much as I enjoyed the first book, it wasn’t great. This second in series is a great book and going in my favorites.

Entertaining story with very little worry for main character.

The narrator is very good. His voice effectively captures the spirit of the main character and fits in well with a 1st person narrative (at least from an American perspective where I am somewhat ignorant of types of English accents). The various characters became quickly identifiable by their unique voices.
The story was entertaining though I have to say I was rarely concerned about the outcomes of the various battles and the main character rarely seemed in peril despite being in multiple medieval battles. Regardless of the situation the main character always had the best soldiers, was the best fighter/archer, and the cleverest person in every situation. So, while entertaining, it was never mail-biting. These stories could benefit with a bit more adversity for our hero.
For those complaining about the graphic nature of the fighting and the meanness of Sir John. I encourage you to do some research on the period and the person of Sir John Hawkwood. Armies have always traveled on their stomachs and it wasn’t until the 18th century that sufficient logistics methods were available to keep a field army fed without having to ravage the countryside. Especially during the 100 Year’s War when the Chevauchée was one of the more reliable ways to bring the locals out of their castles for battle. This is where Griff Hosker has his facts very correct. As for Sir John’s meanness: this historical figure became one of the most successful mercenary captains of the Middle Ages. His mercenaries were so successful that the very word ‘mercenary’ makes us shudder today and curse their inhumanity. Hawkwood was one of the best which meant he knew how to efficiently trade soldier’s lives for gold and treasure. He was not a decent man by 21st century standards. If anything, Hosker has been overly kind to this man’s story. The things he did in real life that earned the respect of King Edward III and the Black Prince should justifiably turn your stomach today. So yeah, the history in this series competently reflected, the narration is great, I just wish the storytelling were better.

Too simple, doesn’t develop the story or characters

Too simplistic. Doesn’t really demonstrate how or why Hawkward was so successful. Intelligence, business-like approach to war. This story was mostly telling telling, not showing. Didn’t accurately represent military leadership or the bond between soldiers.

Id recomendable skipping this and checking out Christian Cameron, Bernard Cromwell.

I read both 1&2 of this series