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Critics' Opinion:
Readers' Opinion:
First Published:
Feb 2023, 464 pages
Paperback:
Dec 2023, 464 pages
Book Reviewed by:
Katharine Blatchford
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The New York Times bestselling historian makes his historical fiction debut with an explosive novel set during the Hundred Years' War.
July 1346. Ten men land on the beaches of Normandy. They call themselves the Essex Dogs: an unruly platoon of archers and men-at-arms led by a battle-scarred captain whose best days are behind him. The fight for the throne of the largest kingdom in Western Europe has begun.
Heading ever deeper into enemy territory toward Crécy, this band of brothers knows they are off to fight a battle that will forge nations, and shape the very fabric of human lives. But first they must survive a bloody war in which rules are abandoned and chivalry itself is slaughtered.
Rooted in historical accuracy and told through an unforgettable cast, Essex Dogs delivers the stark reality of medieval war on the ground – and shines a light on the fighters and ordinary people caught in the storm.
1
This is to let you know that on 12 July we landed safely at a port in Normandy called La Hougue, near Barfleur… many men at arms at once landed… On a number of occasions our handful of men defeated large numbers of the enemy…
'Christ's bones, wake up!'
'Loveday' FitzTalbot jerked his head up. Father had dug him in the ribs with a sharp elbow. Despite the cold saltwater spray that whipped his face, the rocking of the landing craft had lulled him into a moment of sleep.
He had dreamed he was at home.
But now his eyes were open again, he saw that he was not. They were still here. Out at sea. As far from home as they had ever been. Getting further from it every second.
There were ten of them crammed into the little pinnace: himself at the steerboard, Millstone, Scotsman and Pismire further forwards, the priest they called Father beside him at the stern and the archers Tebbe, Romford and Thorp in between them.
Two ...
Dan Jones is an accomplished historian, and that background can be seen in the adept way he brings the 14th century to life. Though the issues they struggle with—war, trauma, and substance abuse, among others—are timeless, the ways in which the characters approach them feel very authentically medieval. When people think of the 14th century, they might imagine majestic kings, noble lords, and the legends that have been passed down about them. Instead, Dan Jones brings to life the struggle of the ordinary foot soldier. If you're looking for a book that dispels the fantasy of the knight in shining armor and focuses on the horrors of war, Essex Dogs, the first in a planned series, is for you...continued
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(Reviewed by Katharine Blatchford).
Dana Schwartz, author of Anatomy: A Love Story
Dan Jones is a brilliant storyteller. I've loved reading his history for years and now he's proven to be just as adept at fiction. Few books manage to be as compelling on every level as Essex Dogs: it's adventure, history, and heart. Kate Williams, author of The Pleasures of Men and Becoming Queen Victoria
Visceral, thrilling, gripping, this is a wild ride into the hearts and minds of men fighting to the death—and each other. The battles that shaped Europe are seen from the point of view of the soldiers and the lives of ordinary people. Searing. Simon Sebag Montefiore, author of Jerusalem
Swashbuckling, blood-spattered, awash with the sex, filth and violence of the Middle Ages, with a cast of unforgettable characters, written with irrepressible verve and historical accuracy, Dan Jones delivers a compelling novel that thrums with sword swinging energy.
In Dan Jones' novel Essex Dogs, readers see fictionalized portrayals of royalty and knights from the point of view of the foot soldiers under their command in the early years of the Hundred Years' War (a series of wars interspersed with truces between the French and English that began in 1337 and lasted for 116 years). Far from the fantasy of the noble knight, they are often brutal, petty and crude. The archetype of the chivalric knight in shining armor has long been ubiquitous, but what did chivalry actually mean to medieval Europeans? The word itself, which derives from the Latin word for horse, has had multiple meanings over the centuries. Originally, it simply referred to mounted warriors. Later, it came to mean knights—not just ...
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