This I found far more realistic than other novels where characters often cut down multiple foes without injury. The first instalment in a new Hundred Years War trilogy, following a tight-knit group of soldiers fighting the 1346 Crécy campaign in medieval France. The nobility is presented as just as any regular army officer - i don't know if this was the way it was at that time. They disembark on the beach, where they meet a barrage of enemy missiles and must scramble to safety as soldiers from other boats drop dead all around them.

These can be used extremely well to make it feel visceral (see Bernard Cornwell’s much better historical fiction on the same time period, the Grail Series), but with this it just felt cheap, and after the blood soaked first half, it really began to drop off as though Jones himself had also tired of it. With sword, axe and longbow, the Essex Dogs will fight, from the landing beaches of Normandy to the bloodsoaked field of Crécy. It was great to see the religiously-themed curses thrown in and they were amusing in the first few instances.This ending almost knocked the book down to three stars but for a first time novel this did keep me hooked until the end so four stars it is. The Essex Dogs of the title are a small group of men-at-arms and archers who fought in the Hundred Years War between England and France as a part of King Edward III's forces. The historical details were lovely as to be expected from a prominent historian, but these alone do not make an interesting fiction book. Their bravado and resilience was to be commended, more than prepared to give their lives for King and country.

This book starts out brilliantly following a small group of ten soldiers (Englishmen, Scotsmen, Welsh folk and others), the Essex Dogs, as they arrive on the shores of Normandy in 1346 to storm the beaches and take France for King Edward III.In terms of what happens in the book, it’s hard to say, but as a vague plot summary: they fight and do battle and attempt, on behalf of their own king, to overthrow the French king. I enjoy his books and his tv shows, but his foray into historical fiction isn't quite to his normal superb level. Long marches, the waiting, the suffering of the peasants who see their harvest destroyed and their houses robbed - I guess nothing has changed very much since then. They were so tight now to the bluff that the missiles from above were flying over their heads and the other boats making the same landing.

I actually had to go back to check Dan Jones’ nonfiction books that I own to make sure that his prose had not always been so dreadful! I know Dan as a historian through his non-fiction books and documentaries, but this is his first foray into historical fiction. Those who know him know he has never told a lie in his life—“Never be the one to tell lies, Nico,” his grandfather teaches him. He said he had this directly from the Marshal of the Army, Lord Warwick, who had it from King Edward himself. He’s never dry, he has a sense of humor that will make you laugh out loud, and he often focuses on what many of us are here for—history seen from the perspective of your average Joe.Unfortunately, they are a consistent feature in the dialogue and quickly lose any of their initial punch.

This could have been a subtle shift on the myth but instead becomes a Blackadder the First style pastiche that doesn't work as effectively as I suspect Jones thinks it does.There are periods of boredom when they talk and boast, and sometimes consider why they're doing all this. They were a sort of cross between snipers and machine guns, capable of bringing the enemy down in huge numbers at a safe distance. The _ga cookie, installed by Google Analytics, calculates visitor, session and campaign data and also keeps track of site usage for the site's analytics report.