Marching to war
BBC History UK|October 2022
DAN JONES talks to Rhiannon Davies about his debut historical novel Essex Dogs, which follows a group of hard-bitten mercenaries fighting for their lives in the 1346 Crécy campaign
DAN JONES
Marching to war

Rhiannon Davies: This is your first foray into historical fiction. What made you decide to write a novel?

Dan Jones: The story of Essex Dogs was catalysed, I suppose, in the summer of 2019, when I had dinner with George RR Martin, author of the Game of Thrones series and an avid reader of history. Talking to him, and realising that it was possible to take serious historical ideas and communicate them via fiction, gave me the kickstart I needed.

Did you deviate from the historical record when writing Essex Dogs?

Yes, because there's no point in writing fiction if you're not going to take full advantage of creative licence. But of course, even in this genre the readers want to feel like history is informing the narrative. So I wanted Essex Dogs, which is about the Crécy campaign in 1346 during the Hundred Years' War, to be based on the original sources.

Bu hikaye BBC History UK dergisinin October 2022 sayısından alınmıştır.

Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.

Bu hikaye BBC History UK dergisinin October 2022 sayısından alınmıştır.

Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.

BBC HISTORY UK DERGISINDEN DAHA FAZLA HIKAYETümünü görüntüle
"People have achieved all kinds of crazy things at the age of 18″
BBC History UK

"People have achieved all kinds of crazy things at the age of 18″

ALICE LOXTON talks to Danny Bird about her book on 18 individuals who left an indelible mark on British history before they were out of their teens

time-read
10+ dak  |
September 2024
Parthian chicken
BBC History UK

Parthian chicken

ELEANOR BARNETT recreates an ancient Roman dish that borrowed flavours from a rival neighbouring empire in the Middle East

time-read
2 dak  |
September 2024
"We need a meaningful story for the new generation - our composite union"
BBC History UK

"We need a meaningful story for the new generation - our composite union"

WHAT A SUMMER IT’S BEEN SO FAR, WITH AN astonishing election result.

time-read
3 dak  |
September 2024
A Pole apart
BBC History UK

A Pole apart

ROGER MOORHOUSE is absorbed by a little-known but politically significant Polish princess whose life encompassed the major events of the later 18th and 19th centuries

time-read
4 dak  |
September 2024
Medieval England's p olitical miracle
BBC History UK

Medieval England's p olitical miracle

From Magna Carta to parliament, taxation to the law courts, the 13th and 14th centuries laid the foundations for the modern British state

time-read
9 dak  |
September 2024
EASTERN PROMISES
BBC History UK

EASTERN PROMISES

Lured by rich trading prospects, from the 17th to the 19th centuries Britain attempted to cultivate relations with China sometimes successfully, but often disastrously. Kerry Brown explores the troubled but ultimately vital links between two ambitious realms

time-read
10 dak  |
September 2024
THE GENIUS IN THE SHADOWS
BBC History UK

THE GENIUS IN THE SHADOWS

Æthelstan is one of the greatest of all Anglo-Saxon monarchs. So why, asks Michael Wood, does the first king of the English remain so fiendishly elusive?

time-read
10 dak  |
September 2024
The king they couldn't kill
BBC History UK

The king they couldn't kill

Want to know why Henry VII is remembered as an intensely suspicious king, wracked by paranoia? The answer, writes Nathen Amin, lies in his death-defying rise to power

time-read
10 dak  |
September 2024
THE SPY WHO HOODWINKED HITLER
BBC History UK

THE SPY WHO HOODWINKED HITLER

Dummy tanks at El Alamein. Bogus generals in Algiers. Sham armies on D-Day. All were ruses masterminded by Dudley Clarke. Robert Hutton tells the story of the British soldier who made an art form of duping the Nazis

time-read
10+ dak  |
September 2024
The long road back The election was tough for the Conservatives - but the past holds clues on how parties can return from the brink
BBC History UK

The long road back The election was tough for the Conservatives - but the past holds clues on how parties can return from the brink

It’s election night 1997, and Jeremy Paxman is grilling Tory grandee Cecil Parkinson.

time-read
6 dak  |
September 2024