Jackals In Iron [Paperback]

Merlin Douglas Larsen (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: 1999

FATE MADE THEM ENEMIES FROM BOYHOOD. DESTINY & VENGEANCE MADE THEM ALLIES. THE STORY OF THE NORMAN INVASION OF ENGLAND Jackals in Iron is a historical novel filled with history, and succinctly told with depth and authentic detail. Extensive glossary of medieval terms and maps.

This is a tale of sweeping scope, passing through more than a century of intrigue, battles and alliances. Here Guy meets Edward the Confessor, King of England, and his dashing successor Harold Godwinson. Guy joins Normandy's war against Harold to seek a morbid vengeance. He admires and loathes William Bastard, Duke of Normandy, destined to become King of England, and known to history as the Conqueror.

Guy says he is William's enemy, and yet, at the end, no one else stands by him save he alone. "The history of our house has been greatly affected by the presence of the Normans. If I am honest, I will admit this right from the start: Ponthieu has been eclipsed by William Bastard and his brood..." Thus begins the dictated history of Count Guy of Ponthieu, in the last year of his life, as he meets with monk historians at the abbey of Saint-Evroult. They have asked the aged Count of Ponthieu to commit his memories and observations to writing, for a great compiled history of the Norman dukes and kings of England. The year is 1100 A D. The Norman Conquest of England is the accomplished fact of the previous generation. Count Guy's generation.

Editorial Reviews

From the Back Cover

"The history of our house has been greatly affected by the presence of the Normans. If I am honest, I will admit this right from the start: Ponthieu has been eclipsed by William Bastard and his brood..."

Thus begins the dictated history of Count Guy of Ponthieu, in the last year of his life, as he meets with monk historians at the abbey of Saint-Evroult. They have asked the aged Count of Ponthieu to commit his memories and observations to writing, for a great compiled history of the Norman dukes and kings of England. The year is 1100 A D. The Norman Conquest of England is the accomplished fact of the previous generation. Count Guy's generation.

He grew up, the younger son of Count Hugh, in a world being taken over by the aggressive Normans, the children of Viking invaders. Guy saw his brothers slain in battle against them. After he became Count of Ponthieu himself, Guy tried to avoid Norman entanglements. But the inescapable presence of William Bastard's meteoric rise to power and fame swept Ponthieu into his plans. Serving the ends of the Duke of Normandy cost Count Guy even more blood and sacrifices from his own family before he finally said "enough." But his decision was harder to live with than he had thought. Late in life, his own house is pulled irrevocably into the Anglo- Norman realm through marriage with the notorious house of Bellesme.

This is a tale of sweeping scope, passing through more than a century of intrigue, battles and alliances.

About the Author

Merlin Douglas Larsen has studied medieval military history for decades, and is writing an historical novel about The Crusades, a story set in the first decades of the Crusader Kingdom of Jerusalem.

The author acknowledges Marjorie Chibnall's book The World of Orderic Vitalis; the works of Catherine Morton and Hope Muntz, The Carmen de Hastingae Proelio; and Hope Muntz's superb novel The Golden Warrior; Elizabeth van Houts' edition of The Gesta Normannorum Ducum; and articles contained in the collected volumes of Anglo-Norman Studies, and Stephen Morillo's book, The Battle of Hastings.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 448 pages
• Publisher: Agreka Tm Llc (1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1888106832
• ISBN-13: 978-1888106831
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 6 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #614,193 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

I'm "middle-aged", married once, have nine children and a growing number of grandchildren, and I'm retired. I have plenty of time for writing and researching. Perversely, I have little ambition to do so. The books I have written seem to have satisfied my urge to explore and express in this medium.

"I know practically nothing about almost everything." That's a mantra that keeps me from getting too full of myself.

The test of a good book is when the author can return to it after many years and find it satisfying. Because we mature in our thinking as we age, it usually happens that a return to earlier literary creations shows up how ignorant we were. If a book we wrote back then stands up to the passing of time, we must have done something right. I must have succeeded in retaining the good stuff and disposing of the bad; because, despite the inevitable flaws that I see now and could not see then, my books and short stories from the swiftly receding past entertain me today.

I put up most of what I think I know on the subject of the Norman Conquest here: www.1066.us

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Impressive rich detail!, August 3, 2002

By 

book yeti "book yeti" (Canada) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Jackals In Iron (Paperback)

Larsen's Jackals in Iron is a "must read" for the avid history buff and for those who have a hankering for distinguished story-telling at it's best. In impressive rich detail, every turn of the page expounds the history of the Norman incursion of England amongst other notable battles, chronicling the lives and actions of heroes, miscreants and citizens caught in the middle of life-altering movements of nations.

At the outset of the novel (1100 A.D.), we become acquainted with the principal character - Count Guy of Ponthieu - a "worldly hardened warrior" advanced in age and held in high esteem by his comrades. Along with his youthful wife Estelle, the Count is invited on a sojourn to the abbey of Saint-Evroult, to recount his life experiences, scribed for posterity by the monks residing there. As he relates his past in detail (the atrocities committed during war, the conquests, the family conflicts, and the inner battles, etc.) to the eager party of copyists, we are treated to a retroactive narrative. We become deeply entrenched in the Count's read-worthy experiences, and consequences of his past decisions.

The reader is also generously provided with a glossary of terms, as well as lineage flow charts and maps, which I personally found very helpful in better understanding certain details of the story. They also added much the richness of the read. Without a doubt, the extensive detail and research that must have gone into penning such a novel will astound even the most picky of history aficionados.

Larsen unquestionably deserves the sincerest of kudos for this masterpiece. Jackals in Iron is highly recommended for those who prefer a more `meatier' read that is most enjoyable

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars jackals in iron, December 29, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Jackals In Iron (Paperback)

Well written. Interesting characters, well thought out and developed. Be prepared to back up and reread or read slowly: there is a lot of information in this book. But to those who enjoy a good historical ( medieval ) novel, this one should please. There is little of the hollywood-type gratuitous violence, but the action is vivid, especially the climactic battle of Hastings. The glossary is helpful, as are the family trees and simplified period maps. The book has some flaws, but none of them are of major importance. Taken altogether it is a good piece of work for a first book.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars 1066 and All That!, July 13, 2006

By 

Virginia M. Jones "Reader Extraordinaire" (Tasmania, Australia) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Jackals In Iron (Paperback)

Mr Larsen certainly knows his stuff, this is a brilliant book - very well researched and easy to read. Packed full of historically correct information that gives a definite atmosphere of being right there as it happens.

This book would be extremely useful to anyone studying this period of English and/or French history, without them having to suffer the boredom of dry bare facts.