We Few referring to "we few, we happy few, we band of brothers". We Few We Few is the fourth novel in the science fiction "Empire of Man" series by David Weber and John Ringo. It tells the story of how Prince Roger MacClintock and his remaining bodyguards of the Empress' Own Regiment have finally made their way off Marduk and must now try to retake the Empire from a usurper. The book appeared on the "New York Times" best seller list. The title is derived the famous St Crispin's Day Speech in Shakespere's play Henry V, (Act IV Scene iii 18-67)
We Happy Few to as "Wellies"—wear white "Happy Face" masks as a sign of their continued jollity. Joy is freely dispensed in pill form and is also laced into the city's water supply. To encourage the drug's consumption, the media is tightly controlled and centers on "Uncle" Jack Worthing, a friendly MC whose voice and image widely broadcasts government propaganda over the city's televisions and radios. Unfortunately, some Wellies developed an immunity to Joy—partly as a result of ingesting bad batches of the drug—and subsequently became depressed or insane from remembering the Very Bad Thing; these people were then driven out of Wellington