Kemp: The Road to Poitiers

Book excerpt: Two kingdoms clash in one of the greatest battles of the Hundred Years War. September 1356. Martin Kemp and his troop of archers ride with the Black Prince’s army as it burns and plunders its way across France. When they find all the bridges across the Loire are destroyed, however, their hopes of uniting with the Duke of Lancaster’s army are dashed, and a hasty retreat is the order of the day. But a French army is closing in fast and Kemp’s old foe, Sir Geoffroi de Chargny, rides with it, now honoured with the duty of bearing the Oriflamme: the sacred war banner of France. Cut off, outnumbered and running out of supplies, the weary English realise their only hope is to risk everything on a pitched battle, and hope the tricks they used ten years earlier at Crécy will pay off a second time, in a field just a few miles outside of Poitiers... A climactic moment in history expertly told by a master of the genre, perfect for fans of Christian Cameron and David Gilman.