Grand Fenwick learns of the new weapon called 'cannon', just before a French army comes to attack. Can the 800 bowmen of Grand Fenwick defend their home against tens of thousands French soldiers and their cannon?

If you ever wondered how a tiny British outpost could survive in the Alps to defy 20th century USA, this is the hilarious answer. ( )

I received a mobi.file copy of this book through a giveaway on LibraryThing and this is my honest opinion.

When you hear the name Ian Fleming you immediately think of James Bond, but practically everyone doesn’t realized that he’s the author behind the movie Chitty-Chitty Bang-Bang which is based on the children’s book he wrote by the name.

Although Leonard Wibberley had written over 100 books he’s best remembered for the first book in the series which this book is the prequel for, The Mouse That Roared; which is probably due to the movie starring Peter Sellers.

In this book the tiny, backward thinking Duchy of Grand Fenwick is, according to a rascally Irish knight, about to be invaded by the French with a new weapon of mass destruction, the cannon.

As expected, a simple plan to have the Duchy drop their differences with the Irish in order to join forces to defeat the French enemy goes awry when Sir Roger's daughter, the Lady Matilda becomes unduly enamored in the Irish knight who brought the news concerning the French invasion. In the end, somehow, despite their shortcomings, they persevered and defeated the French who promised never to attack the Duchy again; which became the precedent of what would happen to them 500 years later when they decided to invade the US, a time at which they still insisted on using the longbow as their choice of combat weapons.

Once you get by the British dry wit and humor which prevalent in this book and its sequel The Mouse That Roared, you’re left with a wonderful satirical work of literature about the time period these stories takes place.

For the wonderful satirical story the author has written here, I’m giving it 5 STARS. ( )

My personal favorite of the "Mouse" series, even beyond the original "Mouse that Roared." --it is a prequel set in 1450, just after the French artillery destroyed an army of English with longbows at Formigny, spelling the doom of the English lordship in France. In this version Charles VII of France is persuaded to follow up that victory by sending his new army against Grand Fenwick, which still relies on its longbowmen. The duchy's defense is aided by an Irish knight errant, Sir Dermot of Ballycastle, with a wonderful gift of the gab. This is not serious historical fiction, but it does catch the feeling of the period when cannon were displacing longbows, and it is extremely funny. Grand Fenwick, of course, survives to conquer the USA in The Mouse that Roared. ( )