All through World War II I’d watched the likes of John Wayne and Gary Cooper taking on the Germans and the Japanese. But the combination of William Shakespeare and Laurence Olivier battling medieval France left an even stronger impression. Rah-Rah was the order of the day during WWII, yet the English king’s rousing pap talk to his troops in Henry V was patriotism personified. And they went on to win the field at Agincourt.
The year was 1415. Historians are still arguing about the relative odds of the combatants. However, it is generally accepted that the French outnumbered the English six to one.
Stormbird, the first in The War Of The Roses trilogy by British author Conn Iggulden, gives us family trees of the main families involved: the English monarchs from Edward III, the House of Lancaster, the House of York, the House of Neville, The House of Beaufort.
The key antagonists were Henry V and French King William. Contrasting them since childhood, Iggulden leaves us in no doubt that Henry V was much to be preferred. He wed Margaret of Anjou and felt as at home in English Normandy (capital Rouen) as in London.
William kept trying to unify the country for increased taxes as well as land. Henry V had ambitions of his own, certainly contrary. It was an age of cruelty rather than chivalry. When William captured a city, he had its inhabitants slaughtered. When Henry V won a battle, he had the captured soldier executed.
Characters include nobility on both sides who treated the low-born with contempt. Henry V went the other way, organising his soldiery into groups of 12 and having them do everything together until they became mates. Depending on one another they fought as a team, successfully.
Much is known about the Battle of Agincourt, both sides keeping score. The author draws on their material, employing educated guesswork to settle discrepancies. His historical characters are three-dimensional and no writer can describe a battle more vividly.
Reading Stormbird, I couldn’t get Laurence Olivier’s performance out of my mind. Read the book certainly. And if you can, get a copy of the actor’s DVD.
An imperfect world
In a perfect world, children are raised by loving parents who guide them on the straight and narrow to be good and useful citizens. This is reinforced by their schools and community. And so on, generation after generation.
Alas, this isn’t a perfect world. All too often, families are dysfunctional. Parents fight — vocally and physically. They have irreconcilable differences. The children find themselves in a battleground. They may well be screamed at and beaten as well.
It isn’t uncommon for Mum or Dad to abandon the family, sending them no money afterwards. Those left behind — the survivors — have to make do as best as they can. Their feelings for the one who left is hardly loving.
This is the major plot of A Ghost At The Door by British author Michael Dobbs. Harry Jones was 13 when Dad took off and he doesn’t remember Johnnie well. Mum was loving but neurotic. In fact Dad did send support, no return address.
Over the years Harry went to university, the military, became a member of parliament. Word reaches him that Johnnie succumbed to a fatal heart attack abroad. Carrying a few family photographs, he proceeds to learn what his old man had been like.
The minor plot concerns a university club Dad had organised decades ago. No sooner does Harry interview several of them than they die. Hardly a coincidence. The police make him their number-one suspect.
Hundreds of pages are devoted to what Harry uncovers. Johnnie was a wheeler-dealer, accumulating a fortune cleverly if dishonestly. A bishop friend reveals a lot and in the process describes the plight of the church today.
Harry travels up, down and around Britain on his self-styled mission. The story’s climax is on the Isle of Man in the Irish Sea, giving the reader tourist guide details about it.
There’s a surprise twist and all questions are answered.
This reviewer likes the author’s four-volume biography of Winston Churchill best, but his works of fiction can’t be faulted. A Ghost At The Door is an enjoyable read, even if he couldn’t resist throwing in Muslim terrorists.
No solution is offered dysfunctional families. Marriage isn’t for all people. Nor is motherhood for all women. Unfortunately, there’s no way of detecting this before the wedding day.
Is living together before vows are exchanged to determine compatibility a viable solution, I wonder?
