The White Company

About the book

Alleyne Edricson's journey beyond the abbey brings him into the company of Hordle John and the experienced archer Samkin Aylward. Service under Sir Nigel Loring draws him towards the White Company and the military adventures of the fourteenth century. Doyle gives the young man's education room for humour, conversation, travel, romance, and danger, contrasting book learning with the skills needed among soldiers and strangers. The chivalric ideals professed by the knights coexist with the practical knowledge and rougher voices of their companions. The historical setting supplies more than costumes: ranks, loyalties, weapons, and forms of belief govern what a character can expect from another. The novel invites readers to follow how courage and judgment develop when an inherited ideal must be tested in an unpredictable social world.

• Education through experience
• Chivalry
• Companionship

Why read it

For a medieval adventure whose humour and varied companions make a sheltered young man's practical education central to the story.

Historical adventure novel · English text