http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bernard_CornwellRead the entirety of his Sharpe's Rifles series and am mostly through his Saxon stories. Dude does his homework, history-wise. The battle scenes are bloody and grotesque without being death porn. The behavior of the rank & file with regard to looting, pillaging, and raping are closer to the mark than most history books will describe. Same deal with the treatment of prisoners.
The Sharpe's books depict the era of later/Napoleonic musket with ring bayonet warfare via the actions of the protagonist. There were enough of the books for some less-than-stellar examples, mostly those that place Sharpe in a legal or other context. A very nice tour of battlefields in India, Portugal, and Spain. I found myself breaking out google earth or topo maps of the areas to follow along. Start with the first book in the faux chronology, not with the first published book.
The Saxon books are vehicles for depicting the Saxon vs Dane conflicts in the late 9th century. Again, good depictions of battles and battlefields and real cartophile bait. I especially like the pagan vs Christian theme in how it describes the fundamental differences in world view and how that effects folks' actions and assumptions.
I intend to read through his other books.
