Essex Dogs is a triumph. The writing is top notch, character-focused and smooth as silk to read. The combat is numbing and brutal and the dialogue is just so much fun. It is a book that you just enjoy reading, it is pure fun and something I will recommend to fantasy lovers as a great entry of historical fiction to try. Similarly, the plot seemed to have little drive, and I do wonder if this is a series that’s meant to be read all at once, where the plot is one that covers three books, rather than each book having its own self-contained plot. The ending of this one, which seems to work to set up the series as a whole more than anything, certainly points to that.

Jones, Dan (18 June 2013). "A scare could be just what the Lions needed". London Evening Standard . Retrieved 23 July 2014. Jones' titular Essex Dogs, a rag-tag band of freebooting mercenaries, witness the horrors of war first-hand as the English army marches towards a brutal confrontation with the French at the Battle of Crécy.I was intrigued to read Essex Dogs because, having read a few of Dan Jones’ nonfiction books, I knew I could rely on it to be well researched and to bring the historical era around it to life. And, really, that’s what it did on the whole. In May 2017 he co-wrote and co-presented a three-part docu-drama, Elizabeth I, with Suzannah Lipscomb. It was broadcast on Channel 5. [17] Only 41, yet with 12 acclaimed non-fiction books under his belt as well as countless TV series and a hit podcast, Jones is rightly proud of his first foray into fiction and an equally entertaining sequel, Wolves Of Winter, is due in the autumn. The genesis of his new series, he explains, came four years ago during a somewhat hungover walk with friends in the midst of a holiday near the Norman town of Saint-Ló.

Over four weeks in March 2019, Jones presented London: 2,000 years of history alongside Lipscomb and Bell. [21] Journalist [ edit ] In 2014, Jones' book The Plantagenets was adapted for television as a four-part series on Channel 5 entitled Britain's Bloodiest Dynasty: The Plantagenets. [14] Essex Dogs by Dan Jones: 9780593653784 | PenguinRandomHouse.com: Books". PenguinRandomhouse.com . Retrieved 20 September 2022. The events at the outset of the Hundred Years’ War are thrillingly brought to life through the escapades of the fictional Essex Dogs, a group of men of different ages, from different parts of what is today Great Britain and who speak different languages even. What unites them is a talent for fighting – whether with axe, sword or bow – a desire to make their fortunes and the bonds of comradeship. ‘We are who we are. We do what we do. We look after each other.’ Dan Jones (25 September 2012). "The history of Britain (in 15 minutes): from Stonehenge to the credit crunch". The Times. London.

Reviews

The Hollow Crown: The Wars of the Roses and the Rise of the Tudors, London, Faber, 2014, ISBN 978-0-571-28807-6; also published as: The Wars of the Roses: The Fall of the Plantagenets and the Rise of the Tudors, New York, Viking, 2014, ISBN 978-0-670-02667-8 Jones, Daniel Gwynne. Who's Who. 2021. doi: 10.1093/ww/9780199540884.013.U276782. ISBN 978-0-19-954088-4 . Retrieved 13 July 2021. Dan Jones (18 August 2012). "The Watchers: A Secret History of the Reign of Elizabeth I by Stephen Alford". The Times. London. I loved reading about each and every one of these characters. I loved the setting of this novel so much as well—it was immersive and a blast to read. The writing was direct and easy to read. My reason for not giving full marks? This is Jones’s first real fiction outing, and I think it does show sometimes. Nothing major though—I still would recommend this one to just about anyone.

Led by the war-weary Loveday FitzTalbot, Jones' Essex Dogs are a motley band of foot soldiers fighting for money and bound mostly by their loyalty for one another. There's Pismire, small enough to infiltrate enemy camps. Scotsman, strong enough to tear down a wall. Millstone, a stonemason who'll do anything to protect his men. Father, a priest turned devilish by the horrors of war. Romford, a talented young archer on the run from his past. And Loveday FitzTalbot, their battle-scarred captain, who just wants to get his boys home safe. A work of craft perhaps unrivalled in its presentation of medieval warfare. Compelling characters, an engaging plot and the perfect dose of immersion that allows you to feel like you are accompanying these characters on their odyssey, through all the blood, grit, trials and tribulations that tie them together. We have a cast that really shows the chasm between the classes of society. Essex Dogs really is a character-driven story that focuses on how our main figures react and evolve to the situations around them. Some are scared, some take joy in the thrill, some are there just for the money. But most of all, the Essex Dogs are there for each other. To keep each other alive and above all, survive at all costs. This is the heart of the story that keeps you emotionally engaged amongst all the brutality, all the horrors of war and all the injustices we are exposed to as the reader. Dan Jones again in my opinion expertly manages to create the tone and atmosphere perfect for what it appears he was trying to achieve.The Colour of Time: A New History of the World, 1850–1960, London, Apollo, 2018, ISBN 978-1-78669-268-9. A new champion has entered the front line of historical fiction to stand shoulder to shoulder with Bernard Cornwell.' Jane Johnson

Jones is a journalist. He is a columnist at the London Evening Standard, where he writes regularly about sport. [22] He has written for The Times, [23] [24] [25] the Sunday Times, [26] [27] [28] The Telegraph, [29] [30] [31] [32] The Spectator, [33] The Daily Beast and Newsweek, [34] The Literary Review, The New Statesman, [35] GQ, BBC History Magazine and History Today. I have read several books by Dan Jones and enjoyed them all. He is that rare, very rare, historian that seems to understand that if you want your books to sell then the average reader has to like them and be entertained by them. So while young Mr. Jones may be a scholar he doesn't write like one and aims for a broader audience. I guess Mr. Jones may have come to a point in his career where he has exhausted his wealth of knowledge in the area of his historic expertise and has decided to try something new. In this book Mr. Jones has clearly ventured into the cutthroat arena of commercial fiction and, though not surprisingly, into historic fiction. This book promises to be the first of a series dealing with some 14th century free booters or mercenaries, professional soldiers but not like we would use that term today. I am giving the book 3 stars as it is a good book with promise but there is a difference between writing good history and good fiction and especially if the fiction is historical fiction. Mr. Jones will need to prove himself before I rate him higher in the fiction field. Essex Dogs is the first book in a new trilogy set during the Hundred Years’ War. It’s the author’s first foray into fiction (unless you count his novella The Tale of the Tailor and the Three Dead Kings) but on the evidence of Essex Dogs it’s clear he’s as adept at fiction as he is at non-fiction.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. This particular expedition led by Edward lasted several weeks as his invasion force pillaged its way across Normandy and culminated in a famous battle at Crecy. That’s the history bit underlying the fiction, the first attempt at fiction, apparently, by this historian. The Essex Dogs get a front row seat in the expedition and eventually find themselves involved with the military leaders around Edward. 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. The Essex Dogs aren’t given too much depth and there’s a thread in the story where some of them try to protect a naive and wayward young recruit to their band when I couldn’t quite see why they should apart from a feeling of comradely brotherhood which didn’t quite mesh with their personalities. Whilst we are shown the repetitive nature of warfare, Dan Jones inserts a whole variety of interactions and conflicts. We are shown the minds of those from the top to the bottom of the army, and also small scale action and the storming of castles. The sheer diversity of content in Essex Dogs is astounding, because it does not feel rushed or unbalanced.