With the publication of "Fixer and Fighter: The Life of Hubert de Burgh, Earl of Kent, 1170 - 1243" by Brian Harwood is the first full-length biography of this remarkable English nobleman who served as Chief Justiciar of England and Ireland during the reigns of King John and of his infant son and successor King Henry III and, as a consequence, was one of the most influential and powerful men in English politics of his time. Informatively enhanced for the reader with the inclusion of a four page Select Bibliography, four pages of Notes, and a three page Index, "Fixer and Fighter" is a seminal and unreservedly recommended addition to personal, community, and academic library Medieval British History & Biography collections.

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Midwest Book Review

An excellent book, [Brian] has really succeeded in writing a popular book in the way I would suggest, that the late Sir Hugh Trevor-Roper's historical books were scholarly, yet readable.

A book I very much enjoyed and the way in which the subject is brought to life.

Dr Allan Chapman, University of Oxford

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This England, March 2020

This is an excellent, and well-researched book which makes a good argument for the importance of an almost forgotten historical figure.

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The History Lady Blog

This is the story of Hubert de Burgh, Earl of Kent born about 1170 into a family of East Anglian land owners.

His biographer vibrantly concluded that 'Few, if any statesmen in the last one thousand years can claim his example of outstanding personal dedication and heroism in the service of his country.' A powerful claim indeed, but reading this book you will find it a claim well justified.

Bulletin of the Military Historical Society

...this is an excellent biography of a key figure in English medieval history, tracing Hubert's career through some of the most turbulent periods of English medieval history.

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History of War - John Rickard

I admit that I had never heard of this man, whose abilities and achievements were so extraordinary. This enjoyable, and interesting book filled that void.

Dr John Viggers

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Military Historical Society

This book is the first popular biography of Hubert de Burgh, one of the most prominent men in England during the turbulent reigns of King John and Henry III.

SlingShot, January/February 2017 – reviewed by Mick Hession

This book is a good read, even for those hazy about the twelfth and thirteenth centuries.

The Journal of Kent History Issue 84

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VaeVictis, November – December 2016

A truly remarkable man, a great justicar, and fiercely loyal to the crown. This remarkable book is well worth reading.

Duncan Harrington, History Research

The superb cover alone of this book would make one want to look inside, and what a treat is in store for the reader! The author, from the start has you looking over the shoulder of 15 year old Hubert de Burgh as he enters London after almost a week's trec from his family home in Norfolk, to take up a junior post at the King's court. His elder brother William, a prominent civil servant, had got him this job and we follow him along the route he would have taken from his first night's lodgings, near Aldgate, to Westminster.by boat from Queenhithe. Brian Harwood's descriptive passages of this first journey to his new life through the back streets, and on the river, gives one a real picture of the smells and sights of mediaeval London. Throughout Hubert de Burgh's life the reader is kept watching over his shoulder from his lowly start to becoming Justiciar of England,.ending with his death at age 73 in his own home at Banstead. For servces to King and country, at home and abroad, he is made Earl of Kent.

The title of "Fixer and Fighter" in three words sums up Hubert de Burgh; a most able communicator "fixer" for his Kings, Richard the Lionheart, John and Henry 111 during the violent times of the 12th/13th centuries, and as a fearless "fighter" at home and overseas.

A most entralling read about a figure in history of whom I knew nothing beforehand!

R Ring Sept. 2016

Rachel Ring