Whenever I’m at a bookstore, I seem to be drawn toward historical fiction more than any other genre. A month or so ago, I was browsing a table full of books when this one caught my eye. I’d never seen historical fiction set in The Hundred Years War, and the blurb made this sound like a “band of brothers” type of story — a company of men called the Essex Dogs who fight like hell, not for fame or riches or country, but for each other. It is a really well told tale (part one of a trilogy I believe) with author Dan Jones developing his characters and their relationships through incredibly vivid and brutal depictions of war. The story focuses on real events in The Hundred Years War as related by chroniclers and also includes real historical figures, but the main story is about the fictional Essex Dogs, who are are the forefront of some of the most important battles fought by the English armies in France in 1346.
The Essex Dogs are a motley collection of men from different parts of England and with different backgrounds. Some are men on the run from the law, others on the run from their past. Their leader Loveday FitzTalbot is a middle aged man who seems to have spent his entire life engaged in semi-criminal activity and fighting. He was not the original leader of the Dogs; the “captain,” a man whom Loveday had respected and been loyal to, disappeared a year ago, leaving the Dogs angry and resentful. Serving in the company are several archers, including a pair of Welshmen who speak no English but whose skills are unparalleled. The Scotsman is a big brawler of a man who wields hammer and axe with terrifying dexterity. His friend/sparring partner is a small cranky man named Pismire. Rounding out the company are a young fellow named Romford, who is a fine archer but untested in battle, and a priest (Father) who has served the dogs for a long time. Romford is new to the dogs, and his past, as Jones reveals through the story, contains horrors that will haunt the young man and put both him and those near him in even greater danger. Father has become corrupted by his time serving the Dogs. He is as vile, venal and criminal as any of them and Loveday worries about his growing recklessness. The Essex Dogs have been hired by Sir Robert to serve in King Edward’s invasion of France. While knights serve the king as well, it is the men like the Essex Dogs who do the dirty and dangerous work. The opening scene of the story reads like the D-Day invasion, with grunts like the Dogs storming a French beach and encountering catapult fire. Loveday’s Dogs distinguish themselves that day and get a reputation for being smart and effective fighters. Knights take note and will make use of them, but other grunts will resent them and create trouble for them.
This book covers July and August of 1346, a time of constant campaigning and bloody attacks on French towns. The French army was pretty much running away from the invading English army, leaving towns full of citizens to the mercy of English soldiers, and there was no mercy. The descriptions of the pillaging of towns and assaults on the locals are graphic, as are depictions of hand-to-hand combat. The reader sees that Loveday, whose own past hints at personal loss and sorrow, is losing his stomach for battle and pillaging, while Romford has flashbacks to his own tragic childhood. Jones puts his characters in what seems to me to be realistic situations. They get split up, and some don’t make it through. One of the more interesting side stories involves drug addiction, which I gather was not out of the question for the time. There is also an interesting female character, a Frenchwoman who becomes a war prize for the Prince of Wales (a dissolute young man who doesn’t live up to his father King Edward’s expectations). She and Loveday have several interactions, and it will be interesting to see where this relationship goes in the next two books.
Essex Dogs is action packed but violent. There are some pretty disgusting fight scenes and implied rape/assault. While I generally don’t find myself drawn to military history, this story, with its focus on relationships within a company, really drew me in. Volume one ends with a surprise revelation, and I am most likely going to get volume two to see what happens next.
