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. 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.

So here was he: forty-three summers old, still fit and strong, but grey at his temples, with fat settling around his middle and age creeping into his bones.The tale was full of coarse language, expletives delivered freely by royalty, nobles, priests and peasants alike. The characters with the most substance are the historical figures themselves, and I found myself wishing to see much more of them - I found the Black Prince’s characterisation to be interesting and compelling in particular. Michaelides seems also to be dipping into the world of Edgar Allan Poe, offering an unreliable narrator who feels more like a literary exercise.

One by one, Millstone, Scot, Tebbe, Romford and Thorp all scampered - half running, half crawling, apewise - from the pinnace to the wreck. 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. So we follow the story of 'Loveday' and his small band, comprised of soldiers, archers, a failing priest, and a fairly young, inexperienced boy.Packed with historical insight, bringing alive not only the war, but the lives of the common soldiers.

You can really sense the brotherliness between the Essex Dogs and that bond is the driving force through this brutally savage journey.Loveday, who must rely on his wits as much as his sword to survive, must also contend with his newly developing conscience. Heading ever deeper into enemy territory toward Crecy, this band of brothers knows they are off to fight a battle that will forge nations, and shape the very fabric of human lives. I know Dan as a historian through his non-fiction books and documentaries, but this is his first foray into historical fiction. Events extend for decades beyond World War II, until everyone’s lives finally collide in dramatic fashion. We experience the gritty details of their campaigning, from hard marches that split boots and shred feet, to agonizing, constipated bowel movements caused by bad food.