The Books

The horrors of Antietam.

‘Once upon a time, in a land that was called Britain, these things happened . . . . and I was there, and this is how it was.’ The Winter King , like the rest of the trilogy, is narrated by Derfel (which is pronounced Dervel), one of Arthur’s warriors. This first book tells how after the death of Uther, High King of Britain, the country falls into chaos. Uther’s heir is a child, Mordred, and Arthur, his uncle, is named one of the boy’s guardians.

Starbuck goes back to Bull Run for the second battle.

Richard Sharpe and the Battle of Fuentes de Onoro, May 1811

This, like Sharpe’s Rifles, was written at the request of the TV producers, though I can’t remember why they wanted this one. It tells the ghastly tale of the battle of Fuentes d’Onoro, a bloody struggle on the Portuguese frontier which deteriorated into a gutter fight in the narrow alleys of a small village. It was a French defeat, but they still chiselled it into the Arc de Triomphe as a victory – I guess they were short of victories so just added a few defeats to make up the numbers.

Takes Nate Starbuck from Ball’s Bluff to the bloody campaign in the peninsula, where the unregarded Robert Lee assumes command of the rebel army.