Doyle has the clarity required of a good adventure writer. His historical novels were his first love - he wrote Sherlock Holmes to pay the bills. There is also a 'prequel' - "Sir Nigel", and several other novels set in the Regency period in England and France. The "Brigadier Gerard" stories are a hoot - Gerard is a vain, thick-headed, valorous French hussar who (like Harry Flashman) always comes out smiling.
It's the Hundred Years War - the big conflict between England and France - not the Thirty Years War, which was mostly Protestants v. Catholics, with various groups trying to take advantage of the general conflict.
“It’s the Hundred Years War...not the Thirty Years War”
Right, thanks! I knew it had “years” in it!
I still have it on my kindle, so I’m pretty sure I’ll get around to it again. My friend and her sister were great fans, their dad read it to them when they were little.