David Gilman

Sir Thomas Blackstone, the British archer knighted on the field of Crecy, has used the intervening years to forge his own war band and has hacked out a fiefdom in central France. But the field of battle is not only arena in which Blackstone will have to fight for his life...  Book 2 of series.

Max Gordon, a sporty 15-year-old boy, is a pupil at a private school in Dartmoor. Jogging across the moors, he is attacked by an assassin with a pistol. After escaping him, Max discovers that his explorer father has gone missing. Max is determined to find him whatever dangers he may face.

Tuscany, 1358: Thomas Blackstone has built a formidable reputation in exile, fighting as a mercenary amid the ceaseless internecine warring of Italy's City States. But success has bred many enemies, and when a dying man delivers a message recalling him to England, it seems almost certain to be a trap. Yet Blackstone cannot disobey - the summons is at the Queen's demand.

On his journey, Blackstone will brave the terrors of the High Alps in winter, face the Black Prince in tournament, confront the bloody anarchy of a popular revolt and submit to trial by combat.

And every step of the way, he will be shadowed by a notorious assassin with orders to despatch him to Hell.

Book 3 in the Master of War series.

England, 1346: For Thomas Blackstone the choice is easy - hang for a murder he did not commit, or join the king's invasion of France. As he fights his way across northern France, Blackstone will learn the brutal lessons of war - from the terror and confusion of his first taste of combat, to the savage realities of siege warfare.  Book 1 of series.

It is 1943 and for agents of the Special Operations Executive, a mission to Nazi-occupied Paris is a death sentence. So why has unlikely spy Harry Mitchell volunteered to return to the city he fled two years ago?

The French capital is at war with itself. Informers, gangsters, collaborators and Resistance factions are as ready to slit each other's throats as they are the Germans'. The occupiers are no better: the Gestapo and Abwehr - military intelligence - are locked in their own lethal battle for dominance.

Mitchell knows the risks but he has a reason to put his life on the line: his family are still in Paris and have fallen into the hands of the Gestapo. With disaster afflicting his mission from the outset, it will take all his ingenuity to even get into the capital...

Winter, 1361. After two decades of conflict, Edward III has finally agreed a treaty with the captive French King, John II. In return for his freedom, John has ceded vast tracts of territory to the English. But for five long years mercenary bands and belligerent lords have fought over the carcass of his kingdom. They will not give up their hard-won spoils to honour a defeated king's promises.

If the English want their prize, they'll have to fight for it... Thomas Blackstone will have to fight for it.

As he battles to enforce Edward's claim, Thomas Blackstone will see his name blackened, his men slaughtered, his family hunted. He will be betrayed and, once again, he'll face the might of the French army on the field. But this time there will be no English army at his back. He'll face the French alone.

Book 5 in the Master of War series.

Provoked by the Dauphin's refusal to honour the terms of his father's surrender, Edward III has invaded France with the greatest army England has ever assembled. But the English lion's attempts to claw the French crown from its master are futile. After defeats at Crècy and Poitiers, the Dauphin will no longer meet the English in the field.

Mired down in costly sieges and facing a stalemate, Edward's great army is forced to argee a treaty. But peace comes at a price. The French request that Blackstone escort their King's daughter to Italy to see her married to one of the two brothers who rule Milan - the same brothers who killed Blackstone's family to revenge the defeats they suffered at his hand.

Blackstone, the French are certain, will never leave Milan alive...