伯納德．康威爾（Bernard Cornwell）

◎出道30年，出版50本書，翻譯成26種語言，全球銷量超過2千萬冊

◎2000-2009 年英國最暢銷作家前20名，歷史小說家第1名

◎2000-2009 年在英國銷量超過托爾金、史蒂芬金和史蒂芬妮梅爾

康威爾出生於1944年，大學畢業後本想從軍報國，但因為近視而三度被拒，後來進入BBC擔任新聞主編，並在1979年隨美國妻子移居美國。旅美初期，康威爾無法取得綠卡，於是決定寫小說，因為這項工作不需要工作簽證，一代歷史小說大師於焉誕生。

康威爾自幼熱愛佛瑞斯特（CS Forester）的拿破崙戰爭時期海戰小說，加上他又是威靈頓公爵的粉絲，便創作了以威靈頓旗下士兵夏普為主角的系列小說，一推出就大受讀者歡迎。康威爾最膾炙人口的獨立作品，毫無疑問是《阿金庫爾之戰》，因為這本書講的正是英法百年戰爭中，英國長弓兵重挫法國重騎兵的關鍵戰役。本書僅在英國就賣了50萬冊。導演麥可曼恩（Michael Mann）正籌拍電影。

Nobody in the world does this stuff better than Cornwell - action set six hundred years ago is as fresh and vital as six days ago, with rough, tough men at war, proving once again that nothing changes - least of all great storytelling.

An extraordinary and dramatic depiction of the legendary battle of Agincourt from the number one historical novelist Agincourt, fought on October 25th 1415, St Crispin's Day, is one of England's best-known battles, in part through the brilliant depiction of it in Shakespeare's Henry V, in part because it was a brilliant and unexpected English victory and in part because it was the first battle won by the use of the longbow - a weapon developed by the English which enabled them to dominate the European battlefields for the rest of the century. Bernard Cornwell's Azincourt is a vivid, breathtaking and meticulously well-researched account of this momentous battle and its aftermath. From the varying viewpoints of nobles, peasants, archers, and horsemen, Azincourt skilfully brings to life the hours of relentless fighting, the desperation of an army crippled by disease and the exceptional bravery of the English soldiers. From the Inside Flap

The word AGINCOURT echoes still for us today. It was one of the greatest English victories ever. The few, the yeomen of England, triumphed over their adversaries.

It is a true story that Bernard Cornwell has long wanted to write. It is hard to imagine a better storyteller to bring such an amazing time to life. The characters are all based in fact and the heroes are the English longbowmen, the backbone of Henry V's army, his secret weapon. But the single, strongest character, is a champion of tournaments, and yet is imprisoned for marrying a forbidden woman.

He becomes a great warrior.

`Azincourt', the name of the place where the battle happened and its name in England for some centuries afterwards, is an outstanding and powerful novel. Full of detail of the countryside, of the torrential rain and mud, of the sickness among the soldiers and their fear of the overwhelming enemy facing them, the story depicts completely the courage, the stoicism, the sheer bloody-mindedness of the fighting man. It is a magnificent achievement.

The word AGINCOURT echoes still for us today. It was one of the greatest English victories ever. The few, the yeomen of England, triumphed over their adversaries.