July 1346, the Hundred Years War has begun, and King Edward and his lords are on the march through

France. But this rule belongs to the men on the ground. Swept up in the bloody chaos,

a tight-knit company must stay alive long enough to see their home again.

Some men fight for glory. Others fight for coin. The Essex dogs fight for each other.

Essex dogs is the debut novel from best-selling historian Dan Jones, out now in paperback.

It's August. Parliament is in recess, so MPs are away in their constituencies,

knocking on doors, shmosing locals, an election isn't that far around the corner remember.

With that in mind though, some will probably be asking themselves,

is this the life for me? Do I really want to keep doing this?

Why are you leaving? I think the real question is why have I stayed so long?

Why are you leaving us? Well, that's a good question, but

well, I've loved my time in politics and I've enjoyed well not every moment of it, but most of it.

So it'll be 32 years at Westminster, I think that's a good shift.

I think I've got a chance to do something else in life.

74 MPs have said they're not going to stand at the next election. Most of them

conservatives, but not all. If you're wanting to change things then go for it,

but I'm not going to pretend that it's all going to be sunshine and roses,

it is a horrible place to be. I wanted to be a member of Parliament

when I was a teenager and I only came into Parliament in 2015,

but I felt it was right that I signaled my intent that I would be standing down at the next election.

Some might be thinking better to jump before I'm pushed,

but with the state of the opinion polls at the moment. But others have a good chance of

...