Through the perilous world of late mediaeval espionage strides the intrepid figure of Ancient Pistol, secret agent. Never at a loss for an insult or an anachronistic quotation from the Bard, Shakespeare’s vainglorious soldier has been entrusted by Thomas Mowbray, Duke of Norfolk, to investigate a matter of the utmost delicacy, involving as it does the fate of the mightiest in the land.
Pistol would not be everyone’s choice for such a task, being a loud-mouthed, cowardly, drunken fathead. But before the monumental ineptitude of his blundering, the Machiavellian schemes of the mighty crumble and fall. Ridiculed, beaten, humiliated but undefeated, Pistol triumphs in the end.
Historical spoof based on the antics of Shakespeare’s character Ancient Pistol. Sequel to All Wind and Pistol, published by Book Guild Publishing, Brighton, 2008. Approximately 65,000 words.
