Arthur Conan Doyle: The White Company

The Hundred Years' War, which raged in Europe from 1337 to 1453, attracted the attention of many poets, writers and playwrights. In Victorian England, the first to address this topic was Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, the literary father of Sherlock Holmes, who considered the novel The White Company his best work. The story centers on the Iberian campaign of Edward the Black Prince. The 14th century is the end of the era of knights, the invention of firearms makes armor unnecessary and useless, however, the laws of chivalry are still in force. A detailed description of heraldry and tournaments, stories of sea and land battles, a history of passionate and true love - all this brought the novel not only a warm welcome and popularity among readers, but also enthusiastic reviews from historians. We offer our readers the full unadapted text of the novel with comments and a dictionary.