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Hawkwood: Diabolical Englishman [Paperback]

Frances Stonor Saunders (Author)
4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
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Book Description

Publication Date: 7 July 2005

'Superb and quite unputdownable.' Miranda Seymour, Sunday Times

'A magnificent achievement - the most exciting book of its kind for years.' Good Book Guide (Editor's Choice)

The hugely acclaimed, best-selling life of John Hawkwood, one of the outstanding figures of English and European history.

'A narrative driven with robust gusto, splendid writing and an eye for the grotesque.' Bill Saunders, Independent on Sunday

'Simply the most vivid account of the late medieval world I heve ever read.' Terry Jones

'Brilliant ... Dazzlingly brings to life one of the most swashbuckling figures in European history.' Sunday Express

'Wonderful.' Christopher Hudson, Daily Mail (Critics' Choice)

'Outstanding.' Andrew Holgate, Sunday Times (Books of the Year)

Frequently Bought Together

Hawkwood: Diabolical Englishman + Sir John Hawkwood: Chivalry and the Art of War + John Hawkwood: An English Mercenary in Fourteenth-Century Italy
Price For All Three: £49.56

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Product details

  • Paperback: 384 pages
  • Publisher: Faber and Faber; New Ed edition (7 July 2005)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 0571219098
  • ISBN-13: 978-0571219094
  • Product Dimensions: 19.2 x 12.6 x 3.2 cm
  • Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 321,278 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Product Description

Review

"'Superb and quite unputdownable... Addictively readable, handsomely produced and compellingly intelligent' Miranda Seymour, Sunday Times"

About the Author

Frances Stonor Saunders is the author of the bestselling Hawkwood, and of Who Paid the Piper?, a cultural history of the Cold War that has been translated into ten languages and was awarded the Royal Historical Society's Gladstone Memorial Prize. Her most recent book is The Woman who Shot Mussolini. Her writing has appeared in the Guardian, the New Statesman and Areté. She lives in London.
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Customer Reviews

4.0 out of 5 stars
9 reviews
4.0 out of 5 stars
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
12 of 12 people found the following review helpful
4.0 out of 5 stars Diabollically Well Written! 3 Aug 2005
By J. Bloss
Format:Paperback
This is a really enjoyable overview of Italy in the 14th century - it is a land riven with disorder, political intrigue and warfare - a situation much exploited by the many mercenaries who flock to earn a living ( albeit a dishonest one! ). The author uses the life of John Hawkwood as the backdrop to the many alliances and conflicts that raged at the time. I have to say that overall you don't necessarily learn a huge amount about Hawkwood and by the end of the book he is still a bit of an enigma - I am guessing that is due to limited sources being available.
However the author's style is very readable and descriptive and I would recommend this to anyone interested in medieval history.
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5 of 5 people found the following review helpful
4.0 out of 5 stars A well-researched and well-written book. 24 Jun 2007
By Paul
Format:Paperback
This is a well-researched, well-written book, and one that provides a good overview of the complexity of late 14th century Italian politics and medieval life more generally.

I disagree that it's 'too scholarly'. I do, however, share the concerns expressed above that, for a book 300+ pages, you don't learn as much as you'd like about Hawkwood himself (the more recent book by Caferro disproves the suggestion that there is a scarcity of material). Consequently, you do get the impression that this military genius spends a lot of time losing battles, rather than winning them. Hence 4 rather than 5 stars. But the diversions and detours ('padding' would be too harsh) are fascinating.

I have two minor quibbles: one that Stonor Saunders has a preoccupation about medieval sexlives (there surely aren't too many books about medieval mercenaries that has index entries for 'masturbation' and 'lesbianism'); and that, secondly, while at pains to highlight the Essex men around Hawkwood (p166), she misses out John Coe, who served with Hawkwood between 1386 and 1394: not only was Coe was from a neighbouring Essex parish to Hawkwood's Sible Heddingham, but he was partly responsible for the two later chantries dedicated to Hawkwood at Sible and Castle Heddingham

But this should not detract from what is an ejoyable and intelligent book.

[updated: 2009]
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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful
3.0 out of 5 stars Bad name for a good book 16 Mar 2010
By J. Duducu
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
The big problem with this book is there is virtually no extant writings by Sir John Hawkwood. This means that virtually all this book uses sources by other contemporaries or the author fills in the gaps with extremely well written background explanation. But the bold name on the book is "Hawkwood" not "What was Italy like in the late 14th Century?".

Had it been called that I would have given the book 5 out of 5 because it is a very well written and a hugely lively and entertaining account of the war, religion, death and disease of pre-Renaissance Italy. It's like seeing a James Bond film and discovering he's only in it for 40% of the movie, no matter how great the other 60% is you can't help but feel a bit cheated. Great chunks of chapters do not talk about Hawkwood and at times he is only mentioned in passing.

So this is a lively account of how foreign mercenaries in many ways created the political situation that was to last for the next 400 years in Italy. It has great stories about Papal corruption and interstate feuding but sadly the star of the show is all too often missing from the story.

If you liked this there's more historical debate and fun at @HistoryGems on Facebook and Twitter
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