What do you think?
Rate this book
Walk With Peril
Historical fiction set during the time of Henry V and Agincourt.
- GenresHistorical Fiction
287 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1959
12 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
May 8, 2019
Robert Fairfield seeks his fortune by serving King Henry, despite the fact that the king calls Robert's religion treason. Along the way, Robert makes enemies, finds a star-crossed love, and risks his life in a drawn-out war with few supplies.
Full of intrigue, politics, betrayal, and some desperate fights, the romance is a secondary plot, more of a potential than an actual realized relationship. Though dry in parts, the characters help carry the story--flawed and full of pride. And despite the grim tone, the end is hopeful.
Full of intrigue, politics, betrayal, and some desperate fights, the romance is a secondary plot, more of a potential than an actual realized relationship. Though dry in parts, the characters help carry the story--flawed and full of pride. And despite the grim tone, the end is hopeful.
September 15, 2010
Book Summary (from dust jacket): "Two young men walked with peril during those months of 1415. One was Robert Fairfield, in danger because of his religion, and because of the enmity of the Duke of York. The other was King Henry V, who knew he was always surrounded by deceit and treachery and who let no man stand behind him. Robert Fairfield came from Wales to London to become King Henry's loyal follower in the hope of winning the accolade of knighthood. Since Robert was poor he rode alone, with his long sword, a belt of golden bells, and a shield bearing the device of a sleeping lion on a green field and the legend "Wake Me No Man." The wealthy merchant, Lewis Chappelle, hurrying citywards with his lovely daughter Constance, grudgingly asks Robert to join his party for the sake of his sword, and then to stay in the vast mansion by the Thames. Here Robert sense strange and secret currents, and is on his guard as a stranger and as a member of the Lollards, the sect that even so early believed in religious freedom and whose members were now banned, persecuted and killed. And in a tavern brawl he met again the Duke of York, cousin to the king, whose enmity Robert had gained in Wales. York's hatred is to follow Robert through the roads and battlefields of France to Robert's mortal peril. This is an exciting and colorful novel about two fascinating men. Robert is brave, resourceful, loyal, and his love story is as touching as it is honorable. But even more fascinating is the picture of Henry V, brave, determined, hard and cruel on behalf of England, kind and winning to his friends, who moves alone among his courtiers and his men, with his hidden dread of the assassin's knife or poisoned cup, yet always pressing forward to make England strong at home and abroad."
I first read this novel probably in junior high, and most likely because my sister was reading it. She'd checked it out from our local library. Judging from how much I had forgotten, much of it must have been over my head at the time. But I was struck enough with the characters, that I remember going back to the library, checking it out for myself, and reading it at least a couple more times between junior high and when I graduated from high school.
I lost track of the book when I went off to college, and only "rediscovered" it this past March (2008). By then, of course, the book had since gone long out of print. But I ordered a used copy through Amazon, and have just finished reading this splendid book again. I was afraid I might be disappointed, that the book might be somehow "less" than I remembered from my youth. Instead, it was much, much more. The subtitle of Walk With Peril is An Exciting Novel of Henry V and Agincourt. Fortunately, that subtitle only appears on the dust jacket, so I'd never seen it on the bookbinding or on the inside pages of the book. Otherwise, I might have dismissed it as "a book about battles", instead of "a book about characters" and never picked it up to read it. I've never been much interested in reading books about battles. But catch me up in a character, and I'll go all the way with him. And that's what Jackson does in Walk With Peril. She spends the first ten chapters developing the hero (Robert Fairfield), the woman he loves (Constance Chappelle), her merchant father, a surly servant who ultimately becomes Robert's most faithful companion, and even in some nearly heartbreaking scenes, a great mastiff dog. (Don't worry, she stays strictly in Robert's POV to do so.) By the time the hero Robert joins the troops of King Henry V and follows him on the campaign that will end in the famous battle of Agincourt, one is no longer worried about it being a "battle book". One merely is as ready to follow Robert wherever he goes, as Robert is ready to follow the king.
Walk With Peril was published in 1959. If you're looking for a "hot romance", this book isn't it. The romance is tender and touching and a little sad. It is also honorable, for above all things, Robert Fairfield is an honorable man, but the author does leave us with hope for him and Constance at the end. Neither is this book filled with page after page of detailed battle scenes. Yes, the battle comes...more than one, in fact...but once Robert leaves Constance to follow the king, the focus shifts to introducing the characters of Henry V and his plotting cousin, the Duke of York. And what characters they are! Each one shines like a jewel...each a flawed jewel, perhaps, but each all the more human and, therefore, intriguing and heroic for it.
Walk With Peril is a long lost jewel of an historical novel. I would love to see it reprinted some day.
I first read this novel probably in junior high, and most likely because my sister was reading it. She'd checked it out from our local library. Judging from how much I had forgotten, much of it must have been over my head at the time. But I was struck enough with the characters, that I remember going back to the library, checking it out for myself, and reading it at least a couple more times between junior high and when I graduated from high school.
I lost track of the book when I went off to college, and only "rediscovered" it this past March (2008). By then, of course, the book had since gone long out of print. But I ordered a used copy through Amazon, and have just finished reading this splendid book again. I was afraid I might be disappointed, that the book might be somehow "less" than I remembered from my youth. Instead, it was much, much more. The subtitle of Walk With Peril is An Exciting Novel of Henry V and Agincourt. Fortunately, that subtitle only appears on the dust jacket, so I'd never seen it on the bookbinding or on the inside pages of the book. Otherwise, I might have dismissed it as "a book about battles", instead of "a book about characters" and never picked it up to read it. I've never been much interested in reading books about battles. But catch me up in a character, and I'll go all the way with him. And that's what Jackson does in Walk With Peril. She spends the first ten chapters developing the hero (Robert Fairfield), the woman he loves (Constance Chappelle), her merchant father, a surly servant who ultimately becomes Robert's most faithful companion, and even in some nearly heartbreaking scenes, a great mastiff dog. (Don't worry, she stays strictly in Robert's POV to do so.) By the time the hero Robert joins the troops of King Henry V and follows him on the campaign that will end in the famous battle of Agincourt, one is no longer worried about it being a "battle book". One merely is as ready to follow Robert wherever he goes, as Robert is ready to follow the king.
Walk With Peril was published in 1959. If you're looking for a "hot romance", this book isn't it. The romance is tender and touching and a little sad. It is also honorable, for above all things, Robert Fairfield is an honorable man, but the author does leave us with hope for him and Constance at the end. Neither is this book filled with page after page of detailed battle scenes. Yes, the battle comes...more than one, in fact...but once Robert leaves Constance to follow the king, the focus shifts to introducing the characters of Henry V and his plotting cousin, the Duke of York. And what characters they are! Each one shines like a jewel...each a flawed jewel, perhaps, but each all the more human and, therefore, intriguing and heroic for it.
Walk With Peril is a long lost jewel of an historical novel. I would love to see it reprinted some day.
December 27, 2025
This is from my collection and is a reread, but it has been a long time. I first read this as a teen and really liked it, as a big fan of history and historical fiction this was a hit then. And I think it still reads very well, as the author does not disguise the political intrigue and real life conditions of life at war during the reign of Henry V of England. And the use of a fictional character from Wales as a main character in the story brings in both Henry’s past as Prince of Wales and the very real split in religious beliefs of the time between the organized church and sects like the Lollards. Am glad I spotted it at a library book sale sometime in the past since it is long out of print. Of course, I had to follow up and rewatch Branagh’s Henry V film yesterday.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews