Enjoy fast, FREE delivery, exclusive deals and award-winning movies & TV shows with Prime
Try Prime and start saving today with Fast, FREE Delivery

Buy new:

$29.95

Get Fast, Free Shipping with Amazon Prime

FREE delivery on orders over $35 shipped by Amazon.

Select delivery location

Temporarily out of stock.
Order now and we'll deliver when available. Details

Want it faster? The Kindle eBook is available now and can be read on any device with the free Kindle app. Want to listen? Try Audible.

$$29.95 () Includes selected options. Includes initial monthly payment and selected options. Details

Ships from

Amazon.com

Ships from

Amazon.com

Sold by

Amazon.com

Sold by

Amazon.com

Returns

Returnable until Jan 31, 2024

Returns

Returnable until Jan 31, 2024

For the 2023 holiday season, eligible items purchased between November 1 and December 31, 2023 can be returned until January 31, 2024

Read full return policy

Payment

Secure transaction

Payment

Secure transaction

We work hard to protect your security and privacy. Our payment security system encrypts your information during transmission. We don’t share your credit card details with third-party sellers, and we don’t sell your information to others. Learn more

Details

Add a gift receipt for easy returns

Have one to sell?

Sell on Amazon

Follow the author

Bernard Cornwell

1356 (The Grail Quest Series) Audio CD – January 8, 2013

by Bernard Cornwell (Author)

4.5 6,947 ratings

Editors' pick Best Literature & Fiction

See all formats and editions

Price

New from

Used from

Kindle

"Please retry"

$13.99

—

Audible Audiobook, Unabridged

"Please retry"

$0.00

Free with your Audible trial

Hardcover, Deckle Edge

"Please retry"

$16.77

$12.69

$1.35

Paperback

"Please retry"

$14.15

$11.54

$1.68

Audio CD, CD, Unabridged

"Please retry"

$15.86

$4.99

Audio CD, January 8, 2013

$29.95

—

Kindle
$13.99 Read with our free app
Audiobook
$0.00 Free with your Audible trial
Hardcover
$16.77

73 Used from $1.35 16 New from $12.69 6 Collectible from $10.00
Paperback
$14.15

76 Used from $1.68 26 New from $11.54
Audio CD
$29.95

1 New from $29.95

{"desktop_buybox_group_1":[{"displayPrice":"$29.95","priceAmount":29.95,"currencySymbol":"$","integerValue":"29","decimalSeparator":".","fractionalValue":"95","symbolPosition":"left","hasSpace":false,"showFractionalPartIfEmpty":true,"offerListingId":"%2FFjTMDX0zeR1wi2d8fkSWBcNP1q25pl276cGGtL4W9k4MWNloWO8kYCbKVAowD1HExDSiMAQ%2BG9GKaplN03czhDZ%2Fy6RFq4Y1VKpc4F2q%2F%2FzFShmLm5%2Bej1%2BRu0%2Fxo7MUyZ6pY6pT1QcgAz3Wip6Rg%3D%3D","locale":"en-US","buyingOptionType":"NEW","aapiBuyingOptionIndex":0}]}

Purchase options and add-ons

MP3 CD Format

Print length

1 pages
Language

English
Publisher

Recorded Books, Inc. and Blackstone Publishing
Publication date

January 8, 2013
ISBN-10

1664679618
ISBN-13

978-1664679610
See all details

Bernard Cornwell
4,258
Paperback
120 offers from $1.30
Bernard Cornwell
6,420
Paperback
140 offers from $1.25
Eric Cline
1,339
Paperback
64 offers from $8.42
Bernard Cornwell
19,729
Paperback
158 offers from $1.49
Bernard Cornwell
2,704
Paperback
102 offers from $1.25
Bernard Cornwell
8,860
Paperback
44 offers from $4.27

Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Recorded Books, Inc. and Blackstone Publishing; Unabridged edition (January 8, 2013)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Audio CD ‏ : ‎ 1 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1664679618
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1664679610

Customer Reviews:
4.5 6,947 ratings

Brief content visible, double tap to read full content.

Full content visible, double tap to read brief content.

Videos

Help others learn more about this product by uploading a video!

Upload your video

Important information

To report an issue with this product, click here.

About the author

Follow authors to get new release updates, plus improved recommendations.

Bernard Cornwell

Brief content visible, double tap to read full content.

Full content visible, double tap to read brief content.

Bernard Cornwell was born in London and worked in television until he met his American wife and moved to the US. Denied a work permit, he wrote a novel and has been writing ever since.

A master storyteller with a passion for history, his current bestselling series, THE LAST KINGDOM, is centred around the creation of England. It is also a major TV series on Netflix, with Bernard playing a cameo role in season three. The fourth season is currently being filmed.

He is also the author of THE GRAIL QUEST series, set in the Hundred Years’ War, THE WARLORD chronicles, set in Arthurian Britain, a number of standalone novels, one non-fiction work on Waterloo and the series with which he began, the SHARPE series.

For exciting news, tour and publication details, and exclusive content from Bernard visit www.bernardcornwell.net and like his author page on Facebook/Bernard.Cornwell

Customer reviews

4.5 out of 5

6,947 global ratings

How customer reviews and ratings work

Reviews with images

See all photos

Sort reviews by

Top reviews from the United States

There was a problem filtering reviews right now. Please try again later.

Manazon

Twas A Blood Lettin'

Reviewed in the United States on November 2, 2023

Verified Purchase

The excruciatingly detailed armor and weapons descriptions were right on! It gave enough details I could 'see it' in my mind's eye.

Occasionally it was repeated in the writings but not insufferably. I enjoy Cornwall's dialogue, and could wish it wasn't used so sparingly.

The characters were well done. At times I would wonder at Thomas' lack of concern as he decided to go places that were highly dangerous for Genevieve. At other times, he seemed so clueless. Maybe we might make some of the same decisions he did...but I think not.

Reviewed in the United States on September 17, 2023

Verified Purchase

In excellent condition and super fast shipping. Thank you!

Reviewed in the United States on September 5, 2023

Verified Purchase

Another great book by Cornwell. It wraps up the vagabond series nicely.

Helpful

Worthy Continuation

Reviewed in the United States on January 21, 2013

Verified Purchase

I've read 33 ( maybe more but I can only find 33 of them ) of Cornwall's books. The only one that I can't recommend without reservation is The Fort. 1356 is a worthy continuation of The Grail Quest Series. It takes place some 8 years after the events of The Heretic. So, the cast of characters has changed. People die. People move on, retire or just go home. And, other people replace them. Contrary to some of the other reviews, I don't see this as a problem but as a reflection of life. This is after all, the Middle Ages with the Black Plague moving through Europe. Thomas of Hookton leader of the Hellequins, now Sir Thomas is searching for the sword of St. Peter. The Hellequins or the Souls of the Devil is the combine arms ( archers and men at arms ) unit led by Sir Thomas. The book follows the the fairly standard Cornwall practice of moving his characters through various 'tests' to demonstrate to the reader what the character is capable of, the moral status of the character and what might lay in the future for the character. We see the way that 'Father Calade' later known as Father Marchant treats the 80 year old Count of Mouthoumet while searching for the Sword of Peter. We see the way that he treats Thomas' wife. And, eventually, we hear of his fate at the Battle of Poitiers. Since there are a number of characters and a number of 'tests', the book seems disjointed at times. However, we have the well drawn background of France in the 12th century presented in living color ( and odor ). We see state of art French gastronomy. We see the times most advanced medicine in action. We see the most modern military technology of the era in action. We even get a look at the logistics and supply problems of managing a military campaign. And, we see a major historical battle portrayed by one of the preeminent writers of military history fiction. Cornwall has very few peers in capturing the feel of battle in a book.

Why do I give this 4 stars rather than 5? Because Cornwall has done better work in the Saxon Tales series, The Grail Quest Series and The Sharpe novels. Not every book in every series I cite is better than 1356. But, I don't rate every book in these three series at 5 stars either. It's a good book. You should enjoy the book as you should enjoy almost everything Cornwall has written. Hopefully, you will enjoy it as I did.

6 people found this helpful

Helpful

Excellent book, but not as good as the three that came before it

Reviewed in the United States on June 25, 2013

Verified Purchase

This book is the follow-up to the Archer Series by the same author, set during Edward III's reign in the 14th Century during the dynastic struggle that made up the Hundred Years' War- started by Edward III in 1337. The main body of novels (1-3) was set in 1346, when Edward III won a major victory at Crecy. The first three novels dealt with exploits of one Thomas of Hookton, bastard son of the town priest who is galvanized into action by a pre-dawn attack on his fishing village which resulted in the deaths of everyone, including his father- but not him of course. He took up his bow and killed a few of the invaders and his success cemented his resolve to be an archer. Those three books were probably some of the greatest medieval fiction I've read in some time- the 14th Century was a time of great political and civil unrest in Europe; England and France specifically as both countries fought a series of battles in a long war that saw both defeats and victories for both sides. France would eventually maintain its sovereignty but it took over 100 years (116 to be exact) and thousands upon thousands of casualties- of both the armies in conflict, as well as the people who were unfortunate enough to live in the French countryside that was repeated ravaged by the English armies of the day.

With that said, this book, while being as succinctly written as the first three, felt somewhat hurried to me. We return to Thomas of Hookton's exploits, only now he is Sir Thomas and he is still the leader of the Hellequin, only instead of his abilities to fight and lead being put into question, his men have an unshakeable faith and trust in him, exalting him to almost demigod like status. Cornwell's grasp of events is unquestionable, it just seemed to me as the novel went on that he was seeking to end the story; personally I would've liked to have read about Thomas to his final days- with engaging characters, I find it is always thus. I enjoyed the book, don't get me wrong...but to me, it wasn't as good as the previous three. Still a rousing read with an interesting cast of characters, some returning ones that I was glad to see and some that I wasn't - still in all, it is an excellent novel and I highly recommend reading it. I think I gave the original trilogy 5 stars so I'll give this one 4...it isn't by any means terrible, just not up to the standards set by the first three. Your mileage may vary, however.

4 people found this helpful

Helpful

Amazon Customer

Tired of Thomas

Reviewed in the United States on September 6, 2023

Verified Purchase

Enjoyed most of the book. It sticks to the formula of inserting fictional characters into actual historical events. I’ve just tired of the character. Won’t read the rest of the series.

Helpful

Top reviews from other countries

JPS

Still good, but no longer the best...

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on October 8, 2012

Verified Purchase

As so many others, I happen to be a fan of Bernard Cornwell. Accordingly, I bought and read this book which continues the story of Thomas Hookton, the English archer of Cornwell's previous trilogy and who has now been knighted and leads the Hellequin, a band of English and Gascon "mercenaries" during the first part of the Hundred Years War.

This book still has some of the qualities that made Bernard Cornwell's fame. The historical context, the two "Chevauchées" of the Prince of Wales in 1355 and 1356, are largely accurate although there are a couple of problems which I will come back to. The reader gets his usual dose of heavy fighting, with lots of blood and violence - although no sex, because this is something that Cornwell generally does not do in his novels. There is also yet another Quest, but for the sword of St Peter this time. The story also builds up to its climax - the battle of Poitiers - where Edward of Woodstock, Prince of Wales, won a crushing victory and captured Jean II le Bon, the French king. By and large, the book reads well and the story is exciting, even if utterly predictable, but this is where the problems start piling up. At times, it seems like the author got somewhat careless or did not really put his heart into the story he was writing and the historical context in which it was taking place.
Starting with the story telling, I could not refrain from grunting, sighing and being disappointed because, at times, it descends into stereotypes. It reads like an adventure story for teenagers (and English teenagers, specifically), and it is rather implausible and biased.

First, the reader is asked to believe that the Hellequin were prevented to rape and kill the populations by their leader, making them somewhat more "virtuous" in an age when rape, slaughter, looting and burning where not only common practices on all sides, but were also the norm. This would make very exceptional when compared to all the other bands, whether Anglo-Gascon, French or any other "company" of professional soldiers across the whole of Western Europe at the time. This is highly unlikely, implausible, and even goes against whatever historical records we had. Anglo-Gascon war bands build themselves a rather atrocious reputation across France at the time for precisely these behaviours. The French bands were no better, of course, since all professional soldiers very much "lived on the country".

Second, many of the characters in the story tend to be stereotypes. There is the character of Thomas of Hookton himself, who seems to be a blend of several historical characters, but with all "unsympathetic" aspects removed. One seems to be the Bâtard de Mauleon, a Gascon war leader who served the English and was known for his ruthless efficiency, but also for quite a few atrocities. Another seems to be Hugh Calveley, another historical figure and an English soldier who commanded the archers on the English side at Crécy became the captain of one of the Great Companies and was one of the rare ones to die of natural causes at a ripe old age. The point here is that Thomas of Hookton appears both ruthlessly efficient and "nice", an association which was somewhat incompatible, given the troubled times. Some of the other characters are almost caricatures, as other reviewers have also noticed. We have a sadistic priest, a power crazy cardinal, a fat and cruel count and a vain, indecisive and incompetent King, just to mention a few of them. Of course, they are all French. In contrast with this, we have the veteran, gruff and no-nonsense Earl of Salisbury, our hero Thomas, protector and saviour of ladies in distress and even the Prince of Wales recast as a reborn Richard the Lionheart, although with a fondness for gambling and women. Moreover, the only two sympathetic characters - but both flawed - on the French side (a naïve and innocent French knight and a young Scots) both happen to change sides to fight for the English at Poitiers. I could not help finding that all of this was a bit too much, rather implausible and somewhat biased.

Then there is the historical context itself. This is perhaps where I was the most surprised and disappointed, because Bernard Cornwell's research is generally superb and comprehensive. In this book, he has - again - chosen to emphasize the discipline of the English forces and, above all, the lethal efficiency of the longbow archers against the ill-disciplined French. He also tends to oppose the respective leaderships on each side. While basically correct, these oppositions tend to be over-emphasized and sometimes lead to contradictions.

One of these contradictions arises when Chevauchées are mentioned. As Bernard Cornwell states both in the book and in his historical note, these were long-range raids whose purpose were to loot and destroy the enemy's economic resources, leaving him weakened and, ideally, unable to take the field and afford the expenses of future campaigns. This tactic was nothing new. It had been carried out for centuries (think of the so-called "harroying of the North" by William the Conqueror, for instance). Such tactics could be ruthlessly efficient but their aim was certainly not to draw the enemy into a set-piece battle. On the contrary, it was to create as much havoc as possible and retreat to friendly territory before the enemy army could be gathered in sufficient numbers and brought in to cut of the retreat. It was to increase their chances in what were essentially "hit-and-run" tactics on a large scale that the English "Chevauchées" of 1355 and 1356 only included a few thousand mounted men.

Such as strategy of attrition made perfect sense for the English given that the Kingdom of England was both poorer and much less populated than France (England's population at the beginning of the war and before the Great Plague has been estimated at 3 million, about a quarter of that of the Kingdom of France). It also offered the advantage of paying the army on the enemy's resources and of recouping the large costs of fitting out the expeditions. However, they were far from being entirely successful. As the book hints at a couple of time, they did not have siege equipment, which would have slowed them down considerably, and could not afford to get bogged down into besieging well-fortified and well-defended cities or castles. So if the first assault was repulsed, they were likely to retreat, rather than persist and allow the French time enough to gather a large army and close with them.
On the other hand, the French strategy was to gather a large enough army to catch the English invaders, trap them and force them to fight in the most unfavourable conditions possible, and crush them. It took time to gather an army such as it would outnumber the English force. Besides, at a time when there were no permanent royal army, the place of gathering could only be determined once the English raid had already begun. Finally, the English raiding force was at its most vulnerable towards the end of the campaign season, when it would be slowed down by its plunder and would be starting to make its way home. With this in mind, all three of the most crushing English victories (Crécy, Poitiers, and Azincourt) were battles that were won against the odds, when a smaller, tired and hungry English army got trapped and forced to fight a battle after a long campaign season by a larger French army that was pursuing it.

Another element that is somewhat missing from Bernard Cornwell's book is the state of the Kingdom of France and the context of the English "Cheveauchées" in 1355 and 1356. The author's claim that Jean II did not react to the 1355 raid because he was indecisive is somewhat biased and he is telling only part of the story here. The year before, a major rebellion had erupted in Normandy under Charles King of Navarre and Count of Evreux, who had a better claim to the throne of France than the Valois (And whom the English quickly supported). Charles (nicknames the Bad) also had the Constable of France (that is the supreme leader of the French army after the King) murdered. In addition, the King's coffers were empty, which, given the years of warfare and the Great Plague, is not entirely surprising. So, the King had his hand full with a major threat much closer to Paris and had no money to pay for an army for a distant expedition. There was therefore no way he could put a stop to the Prince of Wales' raiding in the South of France before he solved these two more immediate problems.

This is where the differences in respective leadership and legitimacy came in play. Philippe VI de Valois was not a great warrior-king; neither was his son Jean II le Bon. Although, in both cases, their incompetence may have been exaggerated, they did commit what appears, with hindsight, to be huge blunders by attacking the entrenched English army rather than starving it out. This, however, would have been seen as "cowardly" and contrary to chivalry. More to the point, one of the main problems of the Valois Kings was their ability to be obeyed - or their lack of it - by the nobles. Their greatest nobles and captains all tended to believe they knew better than anyone else what needed to be done and the Kings' power and authority, being rather weak, allowed for this. This state of affairs was of course exacerbated by the time of Azincourt, when the French King at the time - Charles VI -had gone mad. This meant poor discipline, a lack of coordination on the French side and even an unwillingness to fight under someone else's orders. The consequences of this could be quite devastating without the English having anything to do about it. At Crécy, the French knight trampled over the King's Genoese mercenary crossbowmen, essentially putting them out of the fight and depriving their side of any chance to counter the English long bows. At Poitiers, a third of the army, under the command of the King's own brother refused to assault the English positions, contrary to orders, and retreating without even fighting.

To conclude, this book, while still good, is not worth more than three stars. In addition to the bibliography mentioned in Bernard Cornwell's historical note, I can recommend two other books, if only to have a more objective view than what the author has come up with:
- One is Barbara Tuchman's "A Distant Mirror", first published in 1978, and the chapter of the battle of Poitiers in particular
- The other one is the last volume of Maurice Druon's "Accursed Kings" series, with is titled "Quant un roi perd la France" (When a king loses France"), first printed in 1977, and which is on Jean II le Bon's reign, and Poitiers in particular. The story is told by the cardinal of Talleyrand-Périgord who tried in vain to prevent the battle. I am not sure whether it has been translated into English (unlike the previous volumes in the series, I could not find it in English on Amazon.co.uk), but it is a rather superb read.

10 people found this helpful

princess

Not sure about this book.

Reviewed in France on August 5, 2023

Verified Purchase

Read all the Sharpe series by this author and have been absolutely delighted. Bought 1356 on the strength of Sharpe and have found that, whilst it's brilliantly written, the story has failed to keep my interest, which is sad. I have drifted off to read a book by another author and not finished it. Not a book to pick up and put down perhaps.

Rob Jason

Great Read

Reviewed in Australia on June 7, 2023

Verified Purchase

nearly finished, and I'll be sorry to get to the end. It's a great tale over 4 books. Maybe more to come????

Virginia Beaton

Another great book by Bernard Cornwell

Reviewed in Canada on June 19, 2023

Verified Purchase

The book arrived on time and in fine condition. I'm a big fan of Cornwell's books and I enjoyed reading this book, the fourth in the Grail series.

Adrian Leigh

Captivating story

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on July 17, 2023

Verified Purchase

Brilliantly written and informative as ever. Thomas of Hookton is once again thrust into the heart of religious intrigue and finally the Battle of Poitiers. For me a rollicking good read and so, on to Agincourt. Can't wait to read this again.

See more reviews

Buy new:

$29.95

Image Unavailable

Follow the author

1356 (The Grail Quest Series) Audio CD – January 8, 2013

Purchase options and add-ons

Similar items that may ship from close to you

Product details

Videos

Important information

About the author

Bernard Cornwell

Customer reviews

Reviews with images

Sorry, there was an error

Top reviews from the United States

There was a problem filtering reviews right now. Please try again later.

Top reviews from other countries

Amazon Prime includes:

Buy new: $29.95

Follow the author

1356 (The Grail Quest Series) Audio CD – January 8, 2013

Purchase options and add-ons

Similar items that may ship from close to you

Product details

Videos

Important information

About the author

Bernard Cornwell

Customer reviews

Reviews with images

Submit a report

Sorry, there was an error

Top reviews from the United States

There was a problem filtering reviews right now. Please try again later.

Top reviews from other countries

Buy new:

$29.95