Ever get in a reading rut? You know, that feeling where you read just a little slower or your attention starts to fray just a bit? I felt myself slipping into one of those and then came across the jolt that is Henry V by Dan Jones. I will make no secret that Jones is one of my favorite writers. That said, even I was a bit taken aback at how seamlessly Jones tells the story of one of England's greatest kings.

Jones even admits in the introduction that he intentionally put off this book because he wanted to be more experienced before he tackled his white whale. (Side note: Dan Jones has sold over one million books. If he is worried about how good he is at his craft, what hope is there for the rest of us?) He also notes an uncommon choice for a history narrative. He wrote the book in the present tense. I have only run into this particular choice once before in Michael Finkel's exceptional The Art Thief. In both books, I found it to be an inspired choice. The story has more propulsion and feels more intimate. Instead of being a passive passenger reading centuries later, each action feels fresh to the reader. It may not work well in other books, but Jones does it masterfully.

As for the subject, Henry V, there is a lot to be said. Jones wanted to create a more full biography of the king as opposed to a rushed narrative barrelling towards Agincourt and immortality in Shakespeare's play. I expected Jones would do a fair bit of editorializing on the way Henry is portrayed in various books/media, but instead he stays laser focused on Henry's life as documented. Mainly, the book is about killing the idea of Hal and Henry in one person. The dichotomy being that Hal was a young rapscallion who puts on the crown and becomes the austere and serious Henry by some God given clarity. Instead, Jones posits that they were always one in the same. The difference is the presentation and not the man. Henry was always there, but he was trained perhaps better than any other prince to be king and to project a regal air when his time came.

The book is fantastic and is written so well that I would even recommend it to non-history nerds. A great book is just a great book.

(This book was provided as an advance reader copy by Netgalley and Viking Books.)

*Thank you so much to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for the chance to review an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.*

I really enjoyed this book. It was very informative, and as a nonfiction book it was easy to read and understand. It didn't feel like a textbook or something that required a lot of brain power to understand. I found the information in the book very interesting, and I learned something new on a topic I was very intrigued about. This is exactly what I was looking for. I believe you can't go wrong with a Dan Jones book!