Book Review – Lion Hearts by Dan Jones

About the Book

Three years on from the Siege of Calais: The Black Death has wreaked havoc in Europe. The Castilians are moving against England. The Essex Dogs have scattered.

In Winchelsea, Loveday struggles to keep his tavern afloat in the aftermath of the Death. Nowadays, the only battles he fights are the ones within his own mind.

In Windsor, Romford thrives as a squire at King Edward III’s court, his days as an archer fading into memory. But when an unpaid debt threatens everything he’s built, Romford must call upon the lessons he learned all those years ago: be cunning. Be ruthless. Be quick.

With England still reeling from the Death and the Castilian threat on the rise, the kingdom’s future has never been more uncertain.

Each had reasons for leaving the Essex Dogs behind. But a life like that isn’t so easily forgotten. And for these men the fighting isn’t over yet.

Format: Hardcover (384 pages) Publisher: Head of Zeus
Publication date: 31st July 2025 Genre: Historical Fiction

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My Review

I absolutely loved the previous two books in this series – Essex Dogs and Wolves of Winter – which is set during the Hundred Years’ War. So I was excited to be reunited with the Essex Dogs, or to be more accurate, what remain of the Essex Dogs since quite a few have fallen by the wayside over the course of the books, either confirmed dead or gone missing.

As far as the Essex Dogs are concerned, they number just four: Loveday FitzTalbot, Millstone, Thorp and their newest recruit, Thorp’s nephew, the unpredictable Rigby. The reader knows there’s one other survivor of the original crew – Romford, who’s left behind his wild drink and drug-fuelled days to become squire to Sir Thomas de Holand. But could there be another comrade out there who’s cheated death once again?

As the book opens the Essex Dogs’ erstwhile leader, Loveday, has decided his fighting days are over. He’s now landlord of the Green Lion inn in Winchelsea which he runs with the help of a woman with a young son. Unfortunately he’s bought a pig in a poke because the building is falling apart, the roof leaks and it turns out there were dodgy roofers even in the 14th century. Add to that, an ordinance passed after the Black Death forbids paying a labourer over the odds for work, even if you’ve got the money. And anyway most of the skilled craftsman are busy building ships for the Navy, England being in a longstanding tussle with the Castilians who have been intercepting English merchant ships loaded with cloth.

When Loveday is approached by someone willing to bankroll the work he has no option but to accept. We all know there’s no such thing as a free lunch though and the ‘help’ comes with some risky obligations. Fortunately his former comrades, Millstone and Thorp, have just returned from a fruitless mission and are looking for their next job. Unfortunately, Rigby’s there too, a young man who can’t help getting into trouble.

Meanwhile Romford has found himself unofficial banker to the debt-laden Sir Thomas de Holand who is still waiting for the King to pay out the ransom for the Count of Eu, the French nobleman Sir Thomas captured on the battlefield. Unfortunately for Sir Thomas, his wife has expensive tastes. Joanie is one of the book’s most colourful characters. In real life known as ‘The Fair Maid of Kent’ (although not at the time), in the author’s hands she’s a boozy, foul-mouthed flirt but utterly entertaining. I was also pleased to see the return of the Earl of Northampton, unparelled when it comes to imaginative cursing all of which are too crude to reproduce here. (Rigby learns some pretty fruity Castilian ones as well, translated at the end of the book.)

Eventually all roads lead to Winchelsea for the epic final scenes. As in the previous books, the Essex Dogs find themselves caught up in events that are rooted in historical fact. In this case, it’s the so-called Battle of Winchelsea in which an English fleet of ships took on a Castilian fleet of much larger ships. Some of the seemingly ludicrous events described actually happened. For example King Edward, his knights and nobles really did sit on the deck of his flagship listening to minstrels playing until the very last moment before the enemy fleet was sighted. And the clifftops near Winchelsea really were lined with spectators watching the battle unfold.

The Essex Dogs have always been ruthless fighters, plying their trade to whoever can pay without much consideration for the morality of their actions. Not to say that hasn’t had consequences because there are things you can’t forget you’ve seen – or done. They owe their lives to each other but you can only escape death so many times before it catches up with you. I’ll freely admit there are scenes at the end that left me tearful. (Rather inconvenient since I was on a train at the time.)

I absolutely loved Lion Hearts. It kept me enthralled from start to finish. The book is billed as ‘the unmissable conclusion to the Essex Dogs trilogy’ yet a sentence at the end of the book- no spoilers – left me wondering…

I received a review copy courtesy of Head of Zeus via NetGalley.

In three words: Gripping, authentic, action-packed
Try something similar: To Kill a King by David Gilman

About the Author

Dan Jones is the Sunday Times and New York Times bestselling author of many non-fiction books, including The Plantagenets, The Templars and Powers and Thrones. He is a renowned writer, broadcaster and journalist. He has presented dozens of TV shows, including the Netflix series Secrets of Great British Castles, and writes and hosts the podcast This is History. His debut novel, Essex Dogs, is the first in a series following the fortunes of ordinary soldiers in the early years of the Hundred Years’ War. He is a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society.

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