A review by andrew61
Stormbird by Conn Iggulden

5.0

I think that the joy of really good historical fiction is that it educates as well as entertains and so in this book I was immersed in the world of 15th century intrigue as Henry VI marries Margaret of Anjou in return for a truce with France and the loss of much of England's land in France. So the book moves across the preliminary stages of the war of the Roses as the king's cousin Richard Duke of York (father of Richard III) intrigues to take the throne against a backdrop of English landowners (including an ex Archer who has settled post Agincourt on a farm battling the french king and causing the french to break the truce)fighting the invading french troops with longbow and sword .It brought the characters alive from the sickly Henry who lives in the shadow of his father Henry V, the feisty Margaret and the manipulative Richard, and covers historical events and brings them to life including the Kentish revolt under Jack Cade and the bizarre two weddings of margaret and Henry. The action was riveting and as with Bernard Cornwell's 'Azincourt' the stories of Longbowmen are fascinating with fight scenes, battles, and war vividly drawn in brilliant detail , you do feel like you have found a peephole into history. Great research including methods of torture, legal processes and medicine , so that you can smell the streets and squirm as fingers are broken and leeches applied. Overall a cracking read and I can't wait for volume 2. The middle ages are a fascinating period and having just this weekend finished Dan Jones's 'The Plantagenet's' my view is that good historical fiction complements good factual writing.