AN author from South Zeal is to see his 36th novel published today (June 4).

Michael Jecks, renowned for his novels based on the medieval period, will see the second book in his trilogy about the Hundred Years War 'Blood on the Sand' published today.

A sequel to 2014's 'Fields of Glory', Michael describes the book as 'a thrilling mixture of crime and adventure', following a vintaine — the smallest unit of archers, only 20 men strong — through the mud and horror of battles and the siege of Calais.

Michael said: 'Having written the Templar series of books which is 32 books long, it felt like time for a bit of a change. After some head scratching and discussion with my publisher we decided upon the trilogy on the Hundred Years War.

'Normally a series like this would have one heroic character fighting their way through a series of battles and coming out victorious. This book follows a vintaine, a platoon through a series of battles and follows their story together. The first book led up to the bloody battle at Crécy, the second follows the immediate aftermath of that battle and is something of an adventure book with subplots of spying and skullduggery too.

'I've always been fasciated by the medieval period. As a child the idea of men wielding sharp pointy things while dressed in heavy armour riding horses fascinated me but now I find the whole period interesting.'

The book also looks at one of Devon's most interesting characters of the period, Sir John de Sully. A knight who fought in every major battle up until Najera, he was rewarded with pensions and honours, was one of the earliest members of the Knights of the Garter and a man who lived to the extraordinary age of 107. He now rests in Crediton Church alongside his wife Isobel.

Michael said: 'He is one of those characters we have never heard of and yet he was one of the most respected knights during that period and thought to be a henchman for Edward the Black Prince.

'He only retired after the sudden death of the Black Prince and at his last battle he would have been around 76 or 77 years old! You would assume people of the period lived until they were 30 or 40 and then died, but the evidence I have found is that if you had a good diet you could live quite a bit longer.'