Fourteenth Century England was in turmoil. The human population decimated. Famine, war, disease and violence were rife. Rumours of Cannibalism and infanticide commonplace. Consecutive Kings won and lost wars, land and power. The reign of Edward II was a disaster. Unlike his Father "A King to inspire fear and respect", Edward II lacked the competence or desire needed to reign. He managed to keep the Welsh repressed, but lost land to the Scots after defeat by Robert the Bruce at the Battle of Bannockburn. The Great Famine came in 1315, killing millions and halting two centuries of prosperity. Edward II could not feed his garrisons and was abandoned by his men then deposed and murdered by his own Wife, Isabella of France and her lover Roger Mortimer. Three years later, the true successor - seventeen year old Edward III - seized power, executed Mortimer but left his mother unpunished. As King, Edward III determined to win lands lost in France and establish England as a formidable military power. Emboldened by a successful campaign in Scotland and securing the North, he laid claim to the Crown of France. It was an act that finally led to the Hundred Years' War. Victories at Crécy and later at The Battle of Poitiers against much larger French forces proved the might of English Archers and the Kingdom of England. Despite the successes of the Crown, decades of war, starvation and the Bubonic Plague left people living in terror. Roving bands of thieves, murderers and discharged soldiers, took whatever they could with no regard for law or life. Sir Tristan de Romenal, a young Knight returning from Poitiers, finds his family dead and lands occupied by one such band. With his devoted comrades he sets out to win back his estate.
About the Author: Author Roger Burnage grew up in the village of Lymm, a civil parish in Warrington, Cheshire. National service with the RAF took him to Ceylon - Sri Lanka as it is now known - where he worked as a radio mechanic on large transmitters but never once flew in an aeroplane. After release from service Roger went to work as a draughtsman at Vickers in Manchester, eventually becoming a sales engineer and travelled abroad to Scandinavia and India. It is during this period that he started to read the Hornblower novels by C. S. Forester which sparked his interest in writing. Roger eventually settled in North Wales to build a business and raise a family. The thoughts of writing for himself were never far from his mind. Retirement finally gave him the opportunity. He said: - "I have always enjoyed reading history and historical novels and it was the finding of simple mistakes in some of them that encouraged me to write for myself. I find great pleasure from both writing and doing the historical research needed." Sadly, Roger passed away in December 2015 after a short illness.