The Essex Dogs get a front row seat in the expedition and eventually find themselves involved with the military leaders around Edward. Then, as if lifted by the hand of the Lord, Loveday was up, grabbing his sword and heaving himself over the side of the pinnace, into the saltwater, losing his breath for a second time as the cold hit him and his clothes became heavy. You were a good little liar,” Udo later tells Nico, and delights in the prospect of breaking the boy’s spirit, which is more fun and a greater challenge than killing him outright. The action scenes were great; particularly the opening scene which is clearly inspired by the opening of Saving Private Ryan; and the final battle which was really exciting.

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. An historical fiction that I was initially attracted to by the title, as most of my in-laws live in the county of Essex, now an overflow area popular with Londoners looking to live outside the conurbation. If you’ve seen Stephen Spielberg’s WW2 movie Saving Private Ryan, the opening pages of Essex Dogs will bring it vividly to mind. The plot concerns a small experienced group of soldiers, hired by a knight to be his company of foot soldiers in an invasion of France by Edward III in the mid 14th century, part of the Hundred Years War between England and France. Yet readers coming to the novel hoping for new perspectives on the Hundred Years’ War or on the experience of soldiering in 14th-century Europe are likely to come away disappointed or perplexed, since this is a book that, for better or worse, consistently prioritizes excitement and action over probability or fact.While I appreciated the author using his expertise to paint this ruthless, unromantic, picture of war I wasn’t so persuaded by his attempt to include human drama via his main characters. Essex Dogs really is a character-driven story that focuses on how our main figures react and evolve to the situations around them. Their job in Normandy is to first find the enemy—not always easy considering "the ingenious French tactic of fleeing at the first sight of trouble"—and then rout them. But first they must survive a bloody war in which rules are abandoned and chivalry itself is slaughtered.

Those who know their history will know where this book will end, but Dan Jones injects a whole dose of unexpected twists and turns that keep you on your toes, whilst also allowing him to explore a whole range of themes.Towards the end of the book the action really picks up with some terrific battle scenes, culminating with the Battle of Crécy. The ending of this one, which seems to work to set up the series as a whole more than anything, certainly points to that. Blood spurted and the man fell to his knees, eyes wide and disbelieving, before a third bolt from some sharp shot above them flew into his face through his right cheek. 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. I loved getting to know the characters and to experience via reading their story what the true reality of a ground war back in 1346 was really like.