The White Company

Book cover of The White Company

Book description

"Now order the ranks, and fling wide the banners, for our souls are God's and our bodies the king's, and our swords for Saint George and for England!" With that rousing proclamation, twelve hundred knights ride into battle, accompanied by the stalwart archers known as the White Company.
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Why read it?

2 authors picked The White Company as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?

Ethan Bale

Author

Probably the first “modern” medieval adventure novel, a young Doyle published this in 1891, shortly after he had begun his more famous Sherlock Holmes stories. Also set in the Hundred Years War, it follows a band of mercenaries fighting for the Edward the Black Prince against the French.

It’s mild by today’s standards but a rousing adventure nonetheless, and I first read it at the age of 14. It has all the ingredients of old-fashioned epic adventure: precarious battles, friendship, valiant deeds, humor, and a bit of romance. Check it out and see what your grandfather would have read as…

From Ethan's list on medieval epic adventures.

Mercedes Rochelle

Author

Even though Arthur Conan Doyle was famous for Sherlock Holmes, he really considered himself a historical novelist and I heartily agree. This is one of my all-time favorite books! Although this novel doesn't directly impact Richard II, it does take place during his father, the Black Prince's ill-fated campaign to Spain. Doyle's evocative depiction of an army's fortunes and hardships during the hundred years' war made a lasting impression on me.

From Mercedes' list on the Plantagenets.