Condottiere

Fourteenth-century Europe is writhing in the grasp of the Black Death, and in Britain, the Hundred Years' War drags painfully on; danger, uncertainty and desperation are indiscriminate. During this unstable time, English knight Sir John de Hawkwood, veteran of the battles of Crecy and Poitiers, leads his White Company into the war-torn territory of medieval Italy, and begins a chequered career in the service of the warring Italian city states - Pisa, Florence, Milan and Rome. Exploring the enigma of Hawkwood, knight, mercenary and freebooter extraordinaire, "Condottierre" is a novel of kings and princes, popes and anti-popes, dukes and despots, saints and sinners. Against a backdrop of plague and pestilence, internecine conflict and shifting allegiances, Crockett weaves a complex web of loyalty and betrayal, ambition and intrigue, simmering hatred and enduring love. Based on exhaustive research this is a splendidly realised historical fiction and an evocative and truly compelling adventure.