White Company

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Summary: The White Company
Review: The White Company, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, is an inspiring tale of knightly honor and chivalry. Though famous for his Sherlock Holmes stories, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, in writing The White Company, produced an extremely vivid account of the horrors of medieval warfare, while mixing in moments of humor to create an inspirational and highly enjoyable tale.
The protagonist, Alleyne Edricson, is a young man come fresh from the monastery to explore the world and all it has to offer, as his father had wished. Soon after leaving the monastery, Alleyne meets a beautiful young lady and her father, Sir Nigel Loring. Alleyne then becomes squire to Sir Nigel, a humorous and highly respected knight, and the adventure begins. While fighting abroad, Alleyne proves himself to be a worthy suitor for the lovely Lady Maude, Sir Nigel's daughter, and returns from the war as a courageous and honored knight to marry her.
Though the characters are at times two-dimensional, Doyle does a superb job of endearing them to the reader and enabling the reader to feel as if he or she really knows the characters. The White Company, an escape fiction novel, is an excellent example of formula fiction. The characters are mostly stock, and the ending is a happy one. The worthy hero rescues the damsel in distress, loses her for a while, but returns to win back her love. Even though the novel contains some flat characters and stereotypes, a dose of reality is present in the horror of war portrayed by Doyle.
This account of knights, war, and fair ladies is permeated with the theme of honor. The code of chivalry for medieval knights is a well-developed theme presented by Doyle. This valuable theme mixed with an enjoyable and funny story makes this novel unique. The White Company is a well-written, interesting book and I recommend reading it.

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Summary: Wonderful romantic adventure set during Medieval times.
Review: This books is definitely the stuff of childhood dreams and imagination. Who among you can say they have never imagined themselves playing the part of the intrepid knight battling injustice or the damsel awaiting the return of his true love? The book follows the progress of an adventurous monk that has left the cloister and hitched his wagon to Sir Nigel's White Company, a group of English mercenaries seeking fight and fortune in France and Spain. Those young at heart will especially enjoy this tale. It is gripping without being brutal but with the endearing quality of a bed time or fireside tale.