Introduction

WELCOME TO MEDIEVAL ENGLAND

where Jack and his grandmother are still falling foul of enemies:

high born, lowborn and demonic

INTRODUCTION

You may not have not read 'Jack o' Beans' or 'Jack o' Knaves',

but one kind reviewer has told me

that this third novel in the trilogy

"happily stands alone".

During Jack's occasional periods of quiet contemplation,

he recalls the sequence of strange events

that led to his present situation.

Jack's sword wound has made him unfit for hand-to-hand fighting

but he was still one of the best archers in the Baron of Dudley's

household.

By joining the Baron's contingent in King Edward's great army,

he was given the chance to escape from his nagging wife.

But this brings him into conflict

with the second most powerful man in England.

Even worse than that,

after Jack witnesses a magical ceremony

he and his Gran fight off an attack by a Daemon.

As with the other two novels. 'Jack O' War' is divided into three parts.

The Baron lined up his archers on the ridge that overlooked the great river Trent.

Below them lay the great curve of Burton Bridge with a well-defended gatehouse barring their way across.

The command came to keep up a steady barrage of arrows on the defenders.

This was what he had been brought along to do.

PART TWO

BATTLE

The map below shows the area of the area of central England

over which events take place.

It stretches from Bridgnorth in the West

to Tutbury in the north east, and to Coventry and Kenilworth in the south east.

Thank you so much for coming to this site, and my apologies for the fact that it is nowhere as good as its predecessor.

Nevertheless I hope that you will consider buying one or more of the books.

Blessed be/

BACKGROUND

Jack's adventures take him across the landscape of England in the Thirteen Hundreds. And in spite of changes wrought during the Industrial Revolution, the topography is still recognisable today.

In fact, it's a major character in the story.

The country was in turmoil.

Every year, the climate grew progressively worse.

The crops were failing and the peasants were starving.

Resentment simmered. The Normans in their castles fed themselves by hunting in their extensive deer-parks.

Able-bodied peasants (being little more than slaves) were being forced to join the armies of the Barons.

But at least they had somethin to eat. And they could send a little money back to the folks back home. (Just like our modern-day soldiers did in WW2).

And many of the Barons were plotting Treason against their King.