Richard & Judy Introduce Essex Dogs by Dan Jones

There’s a strong echo of Spielberg’s WW2 epic Saving Private Ryan in the first pages of this book: the same desperate struggle to get out of the Normandy surf under fire; the same immediate requirement to get to grips with the defenders. It’s a clever opening because it makes Dan Jones’s terrific story feel contemporary right from the start, even though it’s set over 600 years in the past. Exciting, funny, and superbly written – Essex Dogs is a treat to read.

Judy's Review:

If you hesitate before picking up a novel based on historical fiction, don’t dither over dropping this one into your holiday reading bag – author Dan Jones has brought the past vividly, gloriously, and sometimes hilariously to life. Considering he’s writing about events back in July 1346, more than 675 years ago, that’s quite an achievement. Indeed there’s something almost cinematic about this story. If you’ve seen Stephen Spielberg’s WW2 movie Saving Private Ryan, the opening pages of Essex Dogs will bring it vividly to mind. Landing craft are crashing through the Normandy surf in a full-scale invasion of France; the men aboard – our Essex Dogs – must somehow avoid drowning and then immediately tackle the fierce defenders on the heights above the beachhead. It's an incredibly exciting opening and the pace doesn’t drop until you’ve turned the last page. A cracking read.

Richard's Review:

I had no idea until reading this book how incredibly important English archers – the longbowmen – were to early medieval armies. They were a sort of cross between snipers and machine guns, capable of bringing the enemy down in huge numbers at a safe distance. Dan Jones writes about their skills – and strength (you needed huge muscle power to draw a longbow) absorbingly. He also brings us wonderful characters with his ‘dogs’ – a tight-knit group of men who know how to fight but want to get home again in one piece. There’s Father, a bona-fide priest who’s been corrupted by his battlefield experiences and is now a bloodthirsty devil… Pismire, small, quick, and deft at infiltrating enemy camps… Romford (a good Essex name) a formidably skilled longbowman trying to escape his past… and Loveday FitzTalbot, their commanding officer, wise, thoughtful, and committed to getting his boys safely back home to England. Their adventures are they fight their way into France are completely gripping and, as Judy says, often very funny. Enjoy.