The Man From Beijing

This isn't a Kurt Wallander novel. This stands alone. It spans two-hundred years and moves from Sweden to the 1850's US on to China and South Africa. It's amazing. 

Agincourt

Being a fan of Henry V for lo these many years -- "we few, we happy few, we band of brothers" -- I loved reading Mr. Cornwell's fictional rendition of the days leading up to the battle and the battle itself.

One of the most dramatic victories in British history, the battle of Agincourt, immortalized by Shakespeare as referenced above, pitted undermanned and overwhelmed English forces against a French army determined to keep their crown out of Henry's hands.

Here Bernard Cornwell resurrects the legend of the battle and the "band of brothers" who fought on that fateful October day in 1415. An epic of redemption, "Agincourt" follows a commoner, a king, and a nation's entire army on an improbable mission to test the will of God and reclaim what is rightfully theirs.