Customer Reviews:
Sharpe clashes with Hakeswille and the French in the Spanish mountains.......2007-04-20
"Sharpe's Enemy" is a classic Sharpe novel - fast-paced, bloody, and chock full of the highs and lows of the soldier's life. "Enemy," despite its more vicious moments, is also one of the most humorous of all the Sharpe novels. Taken together, this is one of the high points in this stellar series.
"Enemy" spans a few days around Christmas, 1812. There are two basic plots going on. The first is the most sinister. Sharpe's tormentor and the titular enemy is Obadiah Hakeswill. He is the man who unfairly flogged Sharpe in India, and later Hakeswill tried to rape Sharpe's wife Teresa and threatened their infant daughter with a bayonet. But Hakeswill brags that he cannot be killed, and there may be some truth to that because Hakeswill now leads a strong force of desperate brigands who have murdered and raped their way into a stronghold that dominates a pass in the mountains.
To make matters worse, Hakeswill has kidnapped several women, including the wife of a French officer and the Lady Farthingdale, wife of an elderly British officer, Sir Augustus Farthingdale. Hakeswill has ransomed Lady Farthingdale for a considerable sum, and Sharpe and Harper are charged with handing over the ransom and retrieving the Lady. While on the mission, they encounter a French party on the identical mission, and they form a temporary alliance.
Without giving away too many plot points, the second main plot line of the novel involves Sharpe and Harper leading an outmanned British force against a massive French column. Only through ingenuity and daring can Sharpe hope to make the French pay for every yard of ground through the pass, and it is evident to all that Sharpe is fighting a lost cause.
But as the French will learn, nobody fights a lost cause better than Richard Sharpe.
"Enemy" is one of the strongest novels in the series because there are so many great supporting characters. Harper, Hagman, and the usual suspects are always present, but Cornwell introduces us to Captain Fredrickson, the one-eyed soldier's soldier, to General Nairn, the seemingly foolish but very wise British officer, and to various and sundry other characters, including many on the French side. Cornwell also gets to reintroduce the reader to the British rocket, that woefully inaccurate yet occasionally lethal weapon that hasn't been seen since Sharpe's India days. Sharpe's use of these rockets against an advancing French column leads to one of the most thrilling battle scenes Cornwell has yet written. And that's saying something.
Also look for a lot of humor resulting from the appearance of the gorgeous Lady Farthingdale, with whom Sharpe has already a passing familiarity . . .
If you're a fan of the Sharpe novels, don't skip over any of the earlier novels to get to this one, but make sure you keep reading!
A Great Series.......2006-08-15
This is another entry on the Sharpe series. It is fun, entertaining and very readable. Cornwell's research is as excellent as usual. He takes some licenses for the shake of the story and continuity, but this is OK. Some people are outraged by the portrait of some of the real historical characters, but historical characters are rarely depicted accurately in historical fiction, so I think this can be forgiven. Besides, usually a more serious account of these characters is given at the end of the book on the Historical Note.
Many people insist in compare this series with Patrick O'Brian's Master and Commander. I don't think this is fair for any of the series, they are different entities. What they have in common is that once you start you may get hooked and devour one book after another...
And in the literary world today that is a rare and marvelous thing.
A ripping good yarn.......2006-05-20
I was a little skeptical in tackling this novel, since my favorite books in the Sharpe series have generally been the ones that hewed closest to the events of actual historical battles, and I knew going into it that "Sharpe's Enemy" was built around a wholly invented battle. But, somewhat to my surprise, I found this a ripping good yarn and thoroughly enjoyable.
Cornwell is simply the best.......2005-10-30
Bernard Cornwell remains at his best in this novel. Bernard Cornwell is a writer who's really good at what he does. The story is supenseful, the characters are interesting (Cornwell makes you either care about them or hate their guts),and the narrative is superbly paced. I love the movies (Sean Bean is the English Clint Eastwood), but the books are so much better than the movies, so much better!(By the way, there are numerous Sharpe websites and at least one Bernard Cornwell website.)Buy them, read them,love them!
Marvelous!!.......2003-05-14
Bernard Cornwell just keeps getting better and better as these books progress! This is now the 13th volume on Sharpe's timeline, and the 6th in order of publication. The character development continues to improve as new personae are introduced in each installment. An especially appealing new character is the one-eyed and mutilated rifle captain , "Sweet William", who joins Sharpe and Harper in this highly entertaining novel.
The time is late 1812 with Christmas approaching. A renegade army of British , Spanish , Portuguese , and French deserters have captured the "wife" of Colonel Sir Augustus Fotheringdale (what a name!), another of those rich and aristocratic and enormously egotistical bungling incompotents that seem to pop up regularly in these novels. Sharpe is selected to rescue the damsel in distress who is being held at an old castle and watchtower on the Northern border of Portugal , known as "the Gateway of God". He is provided by Wellington with two additional companies of riflemen and a batallion of Welsh Fusileers as reinforcements. Sharpe , now a Major , commands the rescue operation and manages to effect it with only minimal losses. The subsequent interference by Sir Augustus manages to result in the death of Colonel Kinney , the commander of the Fusileers , leaving Sharpe as the only experienced senior officer present. Also liberated is the wife of a French Colonel , who is returned promptly to her husband . The French seemingly have also mounted a rescue attempt , but only as a cover for an invasion of Portugal. Sharpe manages to uncover the scheme and settles in to thwart the French and brings them to battle , seeking to buy time for Wellington to respond.
There are many interesting twists and turns to the plot , in which Sharpe encounters his old mortal enemy , Obadiah Hakeswill , fights a battle , commands a batallion , and suffers a tragic loss.
This is one of the best Richard Sharpe novels ; not necessarily "the best" , but close enough. Five stars.
Book Description
Lieutenant Richard Sharpe finds himself fighting the ruthless armies of Napoleon Bonaparte as they try to bring the whole of the Iberian Peninsula under their control. Napoleon is advancing fast through northern Portugal, and no one knows whether the small contingent of British troops stationed in Lisbon will stay to fight or sail back to England. Sharpe, however, does not have a choice: He and his squad of riflemen are on the lookout for the missing daughter of an English wine shipper when the French onslaught begins and the city of Oporto becomes a setting for carnage and disaster.
Stranded behind enemy lines, Sharpe returns to his mission to find Kate Savage. Sharpe's position on enemy grounds is precarious, and his search is further complicated by a mysterious and threatening Englishman, Colonel Christopher, who has his own ideas on how the French can be driven from Portugal.
Download Description
Bestselling historical novelist Bernard Cornwell returns to the battlefields of the Iberian Peninsula with Sharpe's Havoc, where the lieutenant and his men bravely fight the French invasion into Portugal. It is 1809, a few years after Lieutenant Richard Sharpe's heroic exploits on the battlefields of India and at Trafalgar, and Sharpe finds himself fighting the savage armies of Napoleon Bonaparte as they try to bring the whole of the Iberian Peninsula under their control. Napoleon is advancing fast in northern Portugal, and no one knows whether the small contingent of British troops stationed in Lisbon will stay to fight or sail back to England. Sharpe, however, does not have a choice: He and his squad of riflemen are on the lookout for the missing daughter of an English wine shipper, when the French onslaught begins and the city of Oporto becomes a setting for carnage and disaster. Stranded behind enemy lines, Sharpe returns to his mission to find Kate Savage. Sharpe's position on enemy grounds is precarious, and his search is further complicated by a mysterious and threatening Englishman, Colonel Christopher, who has his own ideas on how the French can be driven from Portugal. Christopher's scheme is dangerous, and Sharpe and his Riflemen are the only obstacles standing in his way. Suddenly, a newly arrived British commander in Lisbon, Sir Arthur Wellesley, unknowingly comes to Sharpe's rescue. Just when Sharpe and his men seem doomed, Sir Arthur mounts his own counterattack, an operation of breathtaking daring that will send Marshal Soult's army reeling back into the northern mountains. Sharpe's Havoc is a classic Sharpe story, based on real history, and a return to Portugal in the company of Sergeant Patrick Harper, Captain Hogan, and Sharpe's beloved Green-jackets, who can turn a battle as fast as Cornwell's readers can turn a page.
Customer Reviews:
A Great Series.......2006-08-15
This is another entry on the Sharpe series. It is fun, entertaining and very readable. Cornwell's research is as excellent as usual. He takes some licenses for the shake of the story and continuity, but this is OK. Some people are outraged by the portrait of some of the real historical characters, but historical characters are rarely depicted accurately in historical fiction, so I think this can be forgiven. Besides, usually a more serious account of these characters is given at the end of the book on the Historical Note.
Many people insist in compare this series with Patrick O'Brian's Master and Commander. I don't think this is fair for any of the series, they are different entities. What they have in common is that once you start you may get hooked and devour one book after another...
And in the literary world today that is a rare and marvelous thing.
On the march in Portugal.......2006-08-07
Sharpe's Havoc is another in Sharpe's Rifles series, this one taking place after the first one, but before the 2nd. In this book, Mr. Sharpe is dealing with the French invasion of Portugal in 1809.
In this tale, Mr. Sharpe and his men are tasked to find Ms. Savage (a British lady who lives in Portugal) before the French seize the area and bring her back to Lisbon. However this is interrupted by Colonel Christopher's orders that Mr. Sharpe and his men to stay in Vila Real de Zedes (a small town in the foothill above Oporto, a major city) with Ms. Savage and to not both the French. However, not everything is as it would seem. I don't want to go into anymore details because it'll spoil the story.
As usual, Mr. Cornwell does an outstanding job of following what occurred and inserting his character at the critical moment. Mr. Cornwell has crafted the book very nicely, the story is interesting and makes you look forward to reading more in the series. A solid 4.5 star book in my opinion, however our friends at Amazon don't let me rate them that way and I can't I give it 5 stars. Sorry for those that follow the Sharpe's series!
Brief, powerful tale of Sharpe and his usual suspects in Northern Portugal.......2006-07-25
Bernard Cornwell's titanic Richard Sharpe series continues with "Sharpe's Havoc: Richard Sharpe and the Campaign in Northern Portugal, Spring 1809." Leading the beefy Irishman Sergeant Harper and the remainder of the 95th Rifles that survived "Sharpe's Rifles," Sharpe finds himself still cut off from the British Army during the Peninsular War. As one can expect from Bernard Cornwell, rollicking adventure ensues.
In "Sharpe's Rifles," Sharpe earned his leadership position with the 95th Rifles, and his hold on his soldiers is stronger here, although by no means complete. And it's fair to say that the Rifles are a wee bit stressed, nearly falling to the French army of Marshall Soult as the French sack the Portuguese city of Oporto. But thanks to Sharpe's courage and notorious luck, the Rifles win through and receive new orders.
Sharpe and the Rifles are to accompany one Colonel Christopher, a Shakespeare-quoting villain from the British Foreign Office. A typically-slick Cornwellian villain, Christopher not only plays both British and French sides for his own profit, he covets the beautiful British ex-pat, Kate. Sharpe, charged with finding the wilful Kate and returning her to her mother, goes into a murderous rage when the cad Christopher marries Kate minutes before Sharpe catches up with her (or so she thinks . . .), only to be even more enraged as Christopher's traitorous nature becomes clear.
"Sharpe's Havoc" provides all the usual thrills and chills in a Sharpe novel. From the sack of Oporto to Sharpe's lonely defense of a hilltop redoubt to a pitched battle against thousands of French troops with Sir Arthur Wellesley to a murderous race through the mountains of Portugal to halt a fleeing French army, "Sharpe's Havoc" has action and to spare.
Look for lots of fun as Irish bait the English, who bait the Portuguese, while everyone hates the dastardly French and their obscene ideas of rationality and reason. Guaranteed to keep the pages flipping quickly, "Sharpe's Havoc" is a darn good read, even if it doesn't really break any new ground for the Sharpe series. Check it out.
History and Entertainment in one........2005-01-12
To this day it is a a mystery how Soults forces in Portugal allowed a British Unit to slip across the Douro on the Eastern side of Opporto, and take control of the Seminary. It was a strategic disaster which ended in ignominy for Soult. At one moment he was poised to declare himself King in Portugal, and in the next he was fleeing across the mountians, leaving behind his baggage train and his artillery.
So, who better to fill in that mystery, than Lieutenant Richard Sharpe and his Greenjackets. Cornwell has slipped our favourite gang of riflemen into the right place at the right time to make Sharpe the hero of the day. And this is what makes the Sharpe novels so compelling.
I was reading this book, with David Gates "The Spanish Ulcer" open on my lap, and I was fascinated at how Cornwell managed to weave his story into the truth.
Even the "Evil Colonel Christopher" backstory of plot and counterplot to stage a mutiny against Soult, is borne up by the facts.
On top of all this is a cracking good story. The mid-section of the book is particulary compelling, when Sharpe has his men fortify a hill to keep them occupied, and then has to defend the hill against odds of 20 to one. His protagonist in this battle, and the 31st Leger of French Light Infantry, are again real characters.
This is served up with all the painstakingly researched detail of the loading and operation of the Baker rifle, Smoothbore muskets, Cannon, Howitzers and Mortars. We learn in-depth about fused shot, case shot, canister and round shot.
So, whether you are a history buff, a weapons buff, a fan of Napoleonic wars, in search of a good yarn, a war story or even a romance, there is something here for you.
Book 2.5 in the Series.......2004-11-30
After leaving the Peninsular Wars behind for the last several Sharpe books, Cornwell returns to the roots of the series with this 19th entry, which occupies part of the gap in time between the first two (Sharpe's Rifles and Sharpe's Eagle). Here we find Sharpe and his riflemen in Portugal, detached from the army which has retreated from Oporto. They've been assigned by Col. Hogan to help the mysterious Col. Christopher locate a young Englishwoman who has gone missing during the evacuation of the city. Christopher is a shifty fellow, not Army, but actually a Foreign Office envoy with a vague brief to suss out the political landscape. Early on, something smells fishy about Christopher, and when he arrogantly dismisses Sharpe, the seeds are sown for his development into a full-fledged villain.
All the basic elements of the Sharpe adventure are present and accounted for, although there's nothing particularly novel about them. As always, Sharpe is off on his own, under his own initiative leading his men. Once dismissed from helping Christopher, Sharpe finds himself cut off behind enemy lines with the remnants of a Portuguese unit. As the small band of about a hundred men make their way cross country, they end up running into both Christopher and the missing girl. Ordered to stay put, they wind up fortifying a hilltop location and defending it against a vast French force. This small unit action is fierce and well-rendered, as always.
Eventually, Sharpe leads his force back to friendly lines, and provides a rather crucial logistical service en route. There he is not only reunited with Col. Hogan, but with General Wellesley, the man who raised him from the ranks in India. Also present is the cruel Lord Pumphrey, who Sharpe encountered in Copenhagen. It is confirmed that Christopher has turned traitor, and Sharpe is assigned the task of killing him. And since Christopher has also absconded with the young Englishwoman, Sharpe has extra incentive to track this nasty piece of work down. The tension builds as Sharpe and a few picked men race the French Army to the border so that they can snipe at Christopher from afar. This also allows Cornwell to describe the routing of the French forces, as well as the heroism of a French Major. Although the elements are all what one expects, they are expertly woven as ever, and the book is effortlessly entertaining.
Book Description
As Napoleon threatens to crush Britain on the battlefield, Lt. Col. Richard Sharpe leads a ragtag army to exact personal revenge against a French general known for his acts of terror.
Sharpe's Battle takes Richard Sharpe and his company back to the spring of 1811 and one of the most bitter battles of the Peninsular War, a battle on which all British hopes of victory in Spain will depend. Sharpe is given responsibility to lead an Irish battalion of the king of Spain's household guard, ceremonial troops untrained and unequipped for battle. While quartered in the crumbling fort of San Isidro, they are attacked by murderous Brigadier General Guy Luop's elite French brigade. Sharpe has witnessed General Loup's despicable was crimes before; to put an end to them, and to settle another more personal score, Sharpe must lead his company into the blood-gutted streets of Fuentes de Oñoro, where thousands of French troops have amassed, in a battle to the death.
Customer Reviews:
Sharpe is the best.......2007-05-14
Any book by Cornwell is a well-written and enjoyable adventure. The Sharpe series is highly recommended.
Another good Sharpe book.......2007-01-31
I think this book is the 12th one in the Bernard Cornwell's Sharpe series. In this book, Captain Richard Sharpe and his company take part in the battle of Fuentes de Onoro in May 1811. Sharpe is given responsibility to help train the Real Compania Irlandesa in musketry and skirmishing. He shot two French prisoners and their commander, Brigadier Loup, has sworn that he will have his revenge. Sharpe and his men were attacked at the San Isidro Fort by the Loup's brigade. And the raid is reported as a proof of Captain Sharpe's irresponsibility. Sharpe finds himself used as a scapegoat in a political game. His only hope to save his honour and his career is to lead his men to glory on the blood-gutted battlefield of Fuentes de Onoro.
This book, like other ones in the series, is excellent. However, I think that it is not at the author's best.
Not my favorite Sharpe novel, but still has battlefield thrills.......2006-11-28
"Sharpe's Battle," Bernard Cornwell's take on a near-fatal error in judgment by Lord Wellington, has many of the classic hallmarks of the Richard Sharpe series. In this novel you'll find Richard Sharpe, ambitious soldier, using his gutter-born ruthlessness and bravery to defeat the hated French, fighting alongside noble Irish sergeant Patrick Harper. You'll also find some uninspiring British officers and a dastardly French villain. And plenty of blood and carnage as two mighty armies clash.
That's all to the good. But as has been pointed out by other reviewers, "Sharpe's Battle" feels more in line with the TV series than Cornwell's other books, and I'd have to agree. For one thing, Sharpe in the novels always has a trusted ally in Major Hogan, Wellington's intelligence officer. Hogan is a subtle, brilliant operator in the books, and is always on the lookout for his adopted guttertrash Sharpe. And yet, in "Sharpe's Battle," Hogan is a much more caustic character who seems to care not a whit for Sharpe. This is a jarring change, and only one example of how characters in "Sharpe's Battle" feel as if they are being played in a slightly different key than we usually find in the books.
Perhaps I'm being too harsh with a three-star review. Cornwell once again writes some amazing battle scenes, and the blood and terror come through as ever. Cornwell has also created a worthy foe for Sharpe in the French Brigadier Loup (the Wolf). However, Loup spends quite a bit of time off-stage prior to the climactic battle, if you will, and the book would have benefitted from Loup being a larger presence throughout.
Still, this is a Sharpe novel, and they are jolly good fun. For fans of the series, you can't miss it. If you haven't yet started the Sharpe series, don't start with "Sharpe's Battle," but instead go find "Sharpe's Tiger" and read them in chronological order.
A Great Series.......2006-08-15
This is another entry on the Sharpe series. It is fun, entertaining and very readable. Cornwell's research is as excellent as usual. He takes some licenses for the shake of the story and continuity, but this is OK. Some people are outraged by the portrait of some of the real historical characters, but historical characters are rarely depicted accurately in historical fiction, so I think this can be forgiven. Besides, usually a more serious account of these characters is given at the end of the book on the Historical Note.
Many people insist in compare this series with Patrick O'Brian's Master and Commander. I don't think this is fair for any of the series, they are different entities. What they have in common is that once you start you may get hooked and devour one book after another...
And in the literary world today that is a rare and marvelous thing
Slightly different Sharpe adventure plot.......2006-02-23
A little different from the standard "Sharpe" series template. For one thing, "Sharpe's Battle" has no concocted romantic subplot for the hero (his Spanish guerrilla girlfriend Teresa is mentioned in this book but she remains completely off-stage throughout), which is quite a relief compared with how awkwardly shoehorned-in a few of the love interests have been in some Sharpe novels ("Sharpe's Fortress" springs to mind). Also, slightly atypical for the series is the fact that Sharpe basically just gets out of a jam, partly of his own making, rather than emerging absolutely triumphant -- but, that being said, the ending certainly isn't a downbeat bummer like that of "Sharpe's Prey." Finally, this book seems just a hair slow-paced compared with most in the Sharpe series, but battle scenes, when they do arrive, are very detailed, quite graphic and pretty compelling. I can't quite give the book a 4-star rating, but it probably deserves, at least for Sharpe fans, more than 3; if Amazon allowed individual reviewers to allocate half-stars, I'd give this one 3 and a half stars.
Book Description
Only two obstacles stand between Napoleon's mighty army and its seemingly certain conquest of Portugal: a land wasted and stripped of food at Wellington's orders . . . and Captain Richard Sharpe. But perils from within and without threaten the bold captain of the Light Company -- the hatred and incompetence of a superior officer, the vicious treachery of a false ally, and the overwhelming numbers of a fierce, determined enemy -- combining to make Sharpe's escape a near impossibility.
Download Description
"
It is 1810, and in Napoleon's determination to conquer Portugal -- and push the British back to the sea -- he sends his largest army yet across the Spanish frontier. But between the Portuguese border and Napoleon's seemingly certain victory are twoobstacles -- a wasted land, stripped of food by Wellington's orders, and Captain Richard Sharpe.
But Sharpe is in trouble. The captain of the Light Company is threatened from inside and out: First by an incompetent British officer, who by virtue of family connections is temporarily given Sharpe's command. An even greater danger is posed by two corrupt Portuguese brothers -- Major Ferreira, a high-ranking officer in the army of Portugal, and his brother, nicknamed ""Ferragus"" (after a legen-dary Portuguese giant), who makes no claims to respectability, preferring instead to rule by crude physical strength and pure intimidation. Together the brothers have developed a devious plot to ingratiate themselves with the French invaders who are threatening to become Portugal's new rulers.
Sharpe's interference in the first stage of their plan earns the undying enmity of the brothers. Ferragus vows revenge and plots a merciless trap that seems certain to kill Sharpe and his intimates -- battle-tested ally Sergeant Harper, the Portuguese officer Jorge Vicente, and a prickly but lovely English governess. As the city of Coimbra is burned and pillaged, Sharpe and his companions plot a daring escape, ensuring that Ferragus will follow on toward Lisbon, into the jaws of a snare laid by Wellington -- the massive lines of Torres Vedras, a daring and ingenious last stand against the invaders. There, beneath the British guns, Sharpe is reunited with his shattered but grateful company, and meets his enemies in a thrilling and decisive fight.
Customer Reviews:
Cornwell continues his betrayal.......2007-07-28
I read all of the original Sharpe series in the eighties and thought that the series had come to it's natural conclusion with Sharpes Waterloo in 1990. I was very suprised to see Sharpes Devil a couple of years later and to my mind this was a book too far in the series. Cornwell was always writing other books including the excellent Redcoat as well as his nautical thrillers. When he started the Starbuck chronicles I was delighted and followed Nates adventures in the same manner as I had Sharpe's. Then, after the Sharpe series had been shown on tv Cornwell abandoned "The Starbuck Chronicles" mid-series (after four books)and resurrected Sharpe. Not to sound too cynical but the only reason for this betrayal of fans who had bought the new books and were following Starbuck could only have been money...Cornwell betrayed and sacrificed the Starbuck fans for a newer and more lucrutive market...the new Sharpe fans worldwide who came to the books after the tv series. In order to continue to cash in along came all the new books each one inserted in a different period of Sharpe's career. If you have read the original series you won't recognise Sharpe's description in the new books..because it's Sean Bean!...Thanks Bernard, how's the yacht?
Sharpe And The Battle For Poutugal.......2007-06-04
Captain Sharpe is a tough "rough" officer in his majesty's forces. Having risen through the ranks, unlike some of the refined officers. Resourceful, a bit crude, and a heck of a commander, he has the respect and loyalty of his men and seems always to get into, and out of a scrape.
The story is set in 1810 Poutugal, with the French advancing on Lisbon to drive the English from the peninsula. In between dealing with the drunkard Lieutenant Slingsby taking over his battalion, he also manages to get into a scrape with the Portuguese Major Ferreira and his brother Ferragus, as they attempt to circumvent the British scorched earth strategy by hoarding food to sell the French.
What I found especially interesting Cornwell's work is the detail he puts in to describing the ins and outs of the various battle scenes throughout the book. Very detailed and puts you right in the heat of the battle.
Also, even though this is one of a number of books in the Sharpe series, it is certainly possible to read this without reading the others first.
Richard Sharpe.......2007-03-18
Sharpe's Escape: Richard Sharpe and the Bussaco Campaign, 1810
by Bernard Cornwell. I like all of cornwell's books I like the Sharpe's series!
Another Sharpe adventure worthy of the name.......2006-10-11
At some point, I'm going to have to stop reviewing the books in Bernard Cornwell's Richard Sharpe series. Each book is an enjoyable thrill-ride through various battles and clashes for the British Army, and Sharpe and his cohorts change very little from book to book. Cornwell mastered the battle scene early on, and his skills show no signs of flagging. And so there is very little to distinguish one book from the next.
Sharpe is a lethal killer and leader of the lethal bunch of ruffians the Brits employ as skirmishers. He's also an uncouth seducer of women and despiser of (most) officers. One of Sharpe's charms is that he never changes - he is a cuss, but a reliable cuss. And while this charm works well with fighting men and with damsels in distress, it does little to endear him with the officer's corps, so Sharpe's position in the army is rather tenuous. His achievements merit advancement, but his rough edges deny him that opportunity.
Cornwell explores this element of Sharpe in great detail in "Sharpe's Escape." Colonel Lawford, Sharpe's comrade since the early days, must promote the advancement of his brother-in-law, Cornelius Slingsby. And so he gives Slingsby Sharpe's command - a slight that earns Slingsby Sharpe's undying hatred and Lawford some of Sharpe's contempt. Cornwell, true to form, makes Slingsby into a comically reprehensible character - almost the anti-Sharpe. But the reader, along with Sharpe, gets to experience the infuriating classism that permeated the British Army.
Slingsby isn't the only villain of the piece. As the French Army marches south toward Lisbon, the last bastion of the British Army on the Continent, the French must starve through a wasteland created by Lord Wellington. Two Portuguese brothers, Major Ferriera and the brute merchant Ferragus, conspire to feed the French Army and negate Wellington's brilliant, desperate strategy. But Sharpe catches them at their game and stops a preliminary transaction, thereby incurring the brothers' undying hatred.
Most of Cornwell's villains are mustache-twisting noblemen of great panache. Ferragus is a surprising creation, a demon of a man who loves nothing more than money, unless it is beating another man to death with his bare fists. A giant who towers over even the Sharpe's close friend Harper, Ferragus plans to hear Sharpe whimper for mercy as he pounds his bones into powder.
All in all, between Slingsby, the traitorous brothers, and the French Army, Sharpe has his hands full as he finds himself caught in various traps behind enemy lines. That Sharpe solves the problems by using his bulldog tenacity and his cunning mind should be no surprise. It should also be no surprise that Sharpe once again finds a beautiful woman in dire need of rescuing. But the lack of surprises doesn't mean that this is anything less than a vintage Sharpe expedition. Check it out.
Wonder audiobook reader. Perfect for the Sharpe series........2006-08-17
I've been working my through the audiobooks for the Sharpe series (written by Bernard Cornwell), and when I got to Sharpe's Escape, the reader changed from Frederick Davidson (who died in 2005) to Patrick Tull. Mr. Tull is wonderful and he hits the comic elements beautifully. I hope he reads the unabridged audiobook for Sharpe's Fury, due out September 2006. M. Tull also reads the Patrick O'Brian Aubrey Maturin series (Master and Commander, etc.), so I've also begun working my way through that series.
Book Description
To the Gates of Richmond charts the Peninsula Campaign of 1862, General George McClellan's grand scheme to march up the Virginia Peninsula and take the Confederate capital. For three months McClellan battled his way toward Richmond, but then Robert E. Lee took command of the Confederate forces. In seven days, Lee drove the cautious McClellan out, thereby changing the course of the war. Intelligent and well researched, To the Gates of Richmond vividly recounts one of the bloodiest battles of the Civil War.
Customer Reviews:
How and why the Union failed to win the Civil War in 1862.......2007-10-17
This 1992 book is a narrative of the Peninsular Campaign of 1862 which brought a large and splendidly equipped Federal army to the outskirts of the Confederate capital and should, by all reasonable expectation, have ended the American Civil War with victory for the North. In its 468 pages of text, appendices on Federal and Confederate orders of battle, sketch maps, contemporary artists' impressions, notes and index, "To the Gates of Richmond" attempts to explain how and why that didn't happen.
At this book's date of publication, author Stephen W. Sears had published volumes on the Battle of Antietam (or Sharpsburg to my unreconstructed Confederate ancestors), a biography of Major General George Brinton McClellan (aka The Young Napoleon, aka Little Mac) and a tome of McClellan's Civil War papers. Since the Peninsular Campaign and Antietam are McClellan's two great crises in command, it may be assumed that Sears' mind was firmly fixed on--even obsessed by Little Mac.
In point of fact, Sears seems utterly to despise McClellan. Here are a few examples:
On April 20, 1862, McClellan wrote to Washington. "He had heard, he told President Lincoln, that [Confederate field commander] Joe Johnston was now under the command of Robert E. Lee, and that greatly encouraged him. `I prefer Lee to Johnston,' he explained. To his mind, General Lee was `too cautious & weak under grave responsibility . . . wanting in moral firmness when pressed by heavy responsibility & is likely to be timid and irresolute in action. (He added the opinion, a few days later, that `Lee will never venture upon a bold movement on a large scale.') McClellan did not elaborate on how he had arrived at this singular appraisal; mercifully for him, it was never made public during his lifetime." [Page 57, hardback edition]
The text of the book demonstrates that Sears regards "this singular appraisal" as being dead on--provided that one exchange the name "McClellan" for "Lee."
On June 30, 1862, the Young Napoleon was in the midst of being hammered by Robert E. Lee, now the VERY resolute field commander of Confederate forces in Northern Virginia, in a series of battles that have come to be known collectively as the "Seven Days." The Federals had pulled back from Richmond to a place called Glendale. "By any reckoning, here was the moment for the Young Napoleon to fulfill the pledge he had made to his army after [the Battle of] Seven Pines: `I ask of you now one last crowning effort . . . Soldiers! I will be with you in this battle, and share its dangers with you' . . . . General McClellan, however, would not be sharing any dangers in this battle. Instead he was five miles away . . . without telegraphic communications and too distant to command the army. . . . At four o'clock that afternoon, distancing himself even further from the responsibilities of command, General McClellan boarded the gunboat Galena. . . . That evening the general would dine at Commander John Rogers table aboard the Galena, where . . . the linen was white and there was `a good dinner with some good wine'. . . .
"The truth of the matter is that George McClellan had lost the courage to command. With each day of the Seven Days his demoralization had increased, and each day his courage to command decreased accordingly. By Day Six the demoralization was complete; exercising command in battle was now quite beyond him, and to avoid it he deliberately fled the battlefield. . . . Brigadier General Andrew A. Humphreys wrote his wife, `never did I see a man more cut down than Genl. McClellan was . . . . He was unable to do anything or say anything.'" [Pages 280-281]
Well, maybe. This harsh judgment based on twenty-twenty hindsight does not actually founder but it is certainly heavily buffeted by the facts that McClellan remained in command to fight another day at the greater battle of Antietam and that he continued to be admired (even loved) by both the generals and the soldiers of the Army of the Potomac. The very same kind of demoralization attributed to Little Mac can be seen not long after in General John Popes' utterly inept handling of his army at the Second Battle of Bull Run. Pope was summarily tossed into the Union Army's trash heap to fight Indians while the real soldiers battled to preserve the nation. During the Seven Days, the greater part of the actual fighting was borne by the corps commanded by McClellan's friend, General Fitz John Porter. Porter was unlucky enough to be at Second Bull Run, too. He was court-martialed and cashiered from the army on charges far less damning than those made by Sears against McClellan.
McClellan was a highly competent military man who lacked a true warrior's heart. He was not alone in this. George Gordon Meade, one of his successors in command of the Army of the Potomac, fought at Gettysburg for three bloody days and was not defeated. He thought that good enough reward for his three days' work--much to the fury of Lincoln who wanted victory, not the mere avoidance of defeat.
And finally, there is the fact that when Grant assumed supreme command, he went out of his way to offer a high command to McClellan. Whatever his failings in other spheres, Grant was a Great Captain and he knew the true worth of soldiers. Little Mac should have been the Chief of the General Staff--if only such a thing had existed in the 1860s. Or he might have been great as leader of a Training Command, if such a thing had then existed. McClellan would even have been an excellent field general, just as Meade turned out to be, provided a Grant or a Sherman or a Sheridan stood close behind to give him backbone.
The harsh treatment of Little Mac aside, this is an excellent narrative of the massive failure of the Peninsular Campaign. I know of no better untangling of the knotted goings-on of the Seven Days. (D. S. Freeman, alas, views it strictly from the Southern perspective.)
Four stars.
Sears is a great historian.......2007-03-08
I first came to the writing of Stephen Sears when I read Chancellorsville, which was a truly absorbing history of the period leading up to and including that battle. Since then I have read Landscape Turned Red and Gettysburg, and now To The Gates of Richmond. They all stand up as some of the best history written about the war, and while they have some letters and personal sentiment, they are not full of the folksy yarns that Shelby Foote resorts to. I would recommend all of Sears books for anyone looking for a solid understanding of the nature of the war, written in a clear and concise voice, rich with opinions but not sentimentality.
War is Bloody.......2007-01-19
Sixty thousand men lost their lives or where severely wounded in the Peninsula campaign of 1862. No question the American Civil War was a bloody affair, but this campaign was probably the bloodiest. These were kids fighting, kids who should have been in school, instead of marching into battle for the first time.
This book chronicles General George McClellan's plan to take Richmond and Lee's brilliant strategy of splitting the Northern General's forces, thus stopping him. Mr. Stephen Sears has written a commanding book, one that will teach you a lot about the war that took more American lives than any other. But the book is not written like dry history. I felt like I was really there with those soldiers. The black and white photos, especially the one of the big guns, really made the period come alive for me, as did Mr. Sears writing. If you want to learn a bit about the Civil war, because you were asleep during history class in College, as I was, this is a good place to start.
Bravo!.......2006-09-13
In the early summer of 1861 things looked grim for the young Confederacy. Nashville had fallen as had New Orleans and the Army of Tennessee was on the retreat. Worst of all though was the presence of the Army of the Potomac on the outskirts of Richmond. The Union army was so close in fact that the troopers could clearly hear the church bells of Richmond when they rang. It was at this crucial point of history that Robert E. Lee took command of the Army of Northern Virginia and everything soon changed.
Stephen Sears is well known for his expertise when it comes to the person of George McClellan and overall this book is a study of this man's attempt to live up to his nickname of Little Napoleon. His strategy was simple; he would land his army at Fort Monroe on the tip of the Virginia peninsula and take Richmond from the east. It was a plan that should have worked and probably would have if the man who came up with the idea had let someone else command the campaign. Unfortunately for the Union though, McClellan remained in command and his timidity was his doom.
Sears doesn't concentrate on Little Mac exclusively though and he spreads credit and blame around as he tells his story. He tells of McClellan's equally timid opponent Joe Johnston who retired in front of the Yankee army all the way up the peninsula until he had almost retreated through the capital city. When Johnston finally fights he is wounded himself, which brings on the appointment of Lee who is determined to seize the initiative and drive the invaders back. Thus begins a series of bloody battles fought over seven days that results in huge casualties but ends with the Yankees in retreat and the Confederate army in possession of many much needed supplies abandoned by the Federals.
This author could have easily gotten bogged down with details much as both armies got bogged down in the Virginia mud. Many Civil War historians fall into this trap and their readers get lost and confused or just plain bored. Nothing like this happens in this lively narrative as Sears clearly makes his points. He is very critical of McClellan but Lee doesn't escape unscathed either. He is particularly observant of Stonewall Jackson's failings during this series of battles and although he doesn't make excuses for Jackson he does offer some very possible explanations for the mighty Stonewall's lackluster performance. Most enjoyable is the authors telling of how Confederate General Prince John Magruder basically put on a play for McClellan at Yorktown and brought the whole Union invasion to bay while very badly outnumbered. Sears also provides very clear and easy to read maps that other authors might do well to emulate.
In short, this is an easy, fun and highly informative read that will be a classic in its field for years to come. Sears has outdone himself with this one and has made a complicated military campaign come to life in a way that will not soon be equaled.
Another great one from Sears........2005-06-15
"To the Gates of Richmond" should be on any Civil War (or American History) enthusiast's bookcase. It is a true page turner and I read it in under a week (which for me is an oddity). My only complaint about this book is the lack of quality maps. There are maps, but not very good ones. This does not detract from the quality of the text however.
I have yet to find any books on this particular campaign in the Civil War, and now I don't think I will have to look any farther than this.
Average customer rating:
- Intelligent Historical Fiction- Not a bodice ripper
|
Caterina
Jane Aiken Hodge
Manufacturer: St. Martin's Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
 United States
| World Literature
| Literature & Fiction
| Subjects
| Books
| 18th Century
| 19th Century
| 20th Century
| African American
| Asian American
| Classics
| Collections & Readers
| Drama
| General
| Hispanic
| History & Criticism
| Humor
| Jewish American
| Letters & Correspondence
| Native American
| Poetry
| Short Stories
| Women Writers
Historical
| Genre Fiction
| Literature & Fiction
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Historical
| Romance
| Subjects
| Books
Similar Items:
-
Deathline
-
Windover
-
Death in Two Parts
-
Escapade
-
My Brother Michael
ASIN: 0312205074 |
Book Description
Having survived scandal and the disdain of many a society lady and gentleman in years past, Caterina is now the mistress of her household, and the talented artist behind a successful series of cartoons. But her hard-won independence is far from secure. The political turmoil following Napoleon's invasion of Portugal in 1807 has left a vacuum of power and a dangerous climate for liberal freethinkers like Caterina. When her son Lewis joins in the political fray, Caterina is drawn in as well--and while painting the portrait of a powerful political figure, she embarks on a dangerous new career. She must summon all of her strong will and courage to survive the spinning tornado of political intrigue and lies this time--and to face a past she thought she had left behind forever.
As always, Jane Aiken Hodge blends fact with fiction seamlessly to tell a dramatic tale of love and war.
Customer Reviews:
Intelligent Historical Fiction- Not a bodice ripper.......2000-11-08
Real historical fiction. An intelligent heroine, good characters, intrigue, and spies. Good fun, well written.
Book Description
Often cited as one of the most decisive campaigns in military history, the Seven Days Battles were the first campaign in which Robert E. Lee led the Army of Northern Virginia—as well as the first in which Lee and Thomas “Stonewall” Jackson worked together. In this guidebook, the acknowledged expert on the Seven Days Battles conducts readers, tourists, and armchair travelers through the history and terrain of this pivotal series of Civil War battles.
Maps and descriptive overviews of the battles guide readers to key locales and evoke a sense of what participants on either side saw in 1862. From the beginning of George B. McClellan’s Peninsula Campaign, which culminated in the Seven Days, to the bloody battles that saved the Confederate capital from capture, this guide unfolds the strategies, routes, and key engagements of this critical campaign, offering today’s visitors and Civil War enthusiasts the clearest picture yet of what happened during the Seven Days.
Book Description
Wellington's celebrated Peninsular army played a vital role in the defeat of Napoleon's French forces in Portugal and Spain. It is one of the most famous armies in military history. Yet the last large-scale examination of its structure and operation was written by Sir Charles Oman as long ago as 1913, and since then so much new material has come to light that a fresh account is long overdue.
This important new study, which uses Oman's pioneering work as a foundation, provides a wide-ranging survey of the latest research into the subject, and it is a major contribution to the history of the Peninsular War.
Customer Reviews:
Inside Wellington's Peninsular army.......2007-10-11
I was looking for a book that would finally offer me insight in the quality of the men and officers of this army, optimistic from the fact that Rory Muir is one of the authors.
Instead I found so much paper and no opinion. To describe a general by listing his qualifications, tells me nothing. Same for the units.
Disappointing book for me.
One for the Dedicated Student.......2007-06-23
The exploits of Wellington's Peninsular Army in Portugal, Spain, and Southern France during 1808-1814 are justly famous and have been rather thoroughly explored by a variety of scholars and popular historians. It is therefore a genuine pleasure when a book advertising new research and new insights actually lives up to its billing.
"Inside Wellington's Peninsular Army 1808-1814" contains seven essays and a special appendix, authored by four writers, the most prominent being Rory Muir. Muir provides the introductory essay, a well-written summary of the importance of Wellington and his army to the conflict. Ron McGuigan explores the ad hoc nature of the "disposable force" that became the British core of Wellington's army in the second essay. In the third essay, Robert Burnham provides a brief description of intelligence-gathering activities by selected British officers.
The fourth essay, by Howie Muir, may be the most interesting to students of the Peninsular War. In it, Muir captures how the seniority of British units and of commanders drove an habitual spatial placement of units on the battlefield, literally their "order of battle." This habitual arrangement, nowadays used only for formal parades, once served as the standard operating procedure for ordering units in and out of combat. In an army guided by voice command and couriers, this procedure imparted necessary predictability, and its use provides insight into how several battle unfolded during the Peninsular War. Muir uses Talavera, Albuera, and Toulouse as case studies. As an example, Muir's finding offers a plausible explanation for why Major General Stewart's 2nd Divisions took an hour to reposition itself at Albuera over an distance that represented perhaps a 15 minute walk. Muir's essay provides insight into the perogatives of rank and Wellington's requirement to carefully manage the placement of senior officers. Ron McGuigan's follow-on essay notes the general officers who served with Wellington and the units with which they were habitually associated.
Robert Burnham describes the British Army's challenges in keeping the ranks of Wellington's army filled and its experimentation with various more or less innovative solutions. This particular essay has some relevance for an American Army striving to keep sufficient forces deployed in Iraq and Afghanistan. In a separate essay, Burnham notes the remarkable bridging work done by British engineers in a theater of war with few permanent bridges and limited building materials. A closing appendix lists the memoirs associated with the British units that served in Portugal and Spain.
This book is very highly recommended to the dedicated student of the British Army and its participation in the Peninsular War. This volume is not obviously meant to be popular history for the general reader, who may find the material less interesting and difficult to follow.
A One of a Kind Book.......2007-06-18
If you're like me, you've gotten tired of the Napoleonic books that simply rehash the same subjects, regurgitating the same information from the same sources. You've probably felt that pang of disappointment and wasted money when you've ordered a `new' book on say Waterloo, only to find the very same accounts with the very same pictures from another publisher. If so, I know you will find INSIDE WELLINGTON'S ARMY an exciting and refreshing change. If you are longing for new research, a deeper understanding, and broader perspectives on the Peninsular war, then INSIDE WELLINGTON'S ARMY is the answer.
INSIDE WELLINTON'S ARMY is a unique series of studies, providing research on important and misunderstood topics not found anywhere else. The book's stated purpose is to supplement existing histories, particularly Oman's 1913 study "Wellington's Army 1809-1814", which offered a distillation of much what Oman had learned while researching his multi-volume work on the history of the Peninsular war. The authors have succeeded admirably.
The seven substantial chapters cover such topics as the origin of Wellington's army in the Peninsula. By the end of the war, Wellington commanded the largest British army in history, for far longer than any other expeditionary force. The how's and why's of its creation explains a great deal, not only why Wellington could win so consistently with the army, but also British military thinking and organization for the rest of the Nineteenth Century.
The Chapters on British feats of military bridging and how the British kept their units up to strength provide detailed information, tables and period pictures seen nowhere else. The variety and number of `firsts' in bridging carried out by the British is amazing, as are the numerous original pictures and engineering diagrams provided with the text. Anyone who has read about the Peninsular war knows how important bridging was for the Spanish campaigns, but this is the first it has been written about in any detail, let alone the lush data provided in the book.
The chapter on the British Army's `order of battle', is equally fascinating, a must for anyone interested in the military practices of the day. This study of the system used to organize an army in a battle line during the Peninsular war reveals how the place of honor and seniority provided the structure for movement, battle, morale and discipline. This often misunderstood set of practices dictated who would command what units where in the battle line, providing a set of structural tools for an army commander in creating a winning set of battle tactics. This system of custom and is examined in detail, it's practicality and uses in the field, as well as the continuity in operations that the Peninsular army shared with those armies that went before and after it. And of course, the same methods used for a `customary battle-array' by the British were very similar to those of other nations during the Napoleonic wars.
The authors have spent years of study to produce their individual chapters, offering a depth of knowledge and wealth of information found in few other works on the British army and the Peninsular war. If you are looking for some more than `the same-old, same-old' in Napoleonic history, you can't go wrong with INSIDE WELLINGTON'S ARMY.
Book Description
At the end of the 18th century Spain remained one of the world's most powerful empires. Portugal, too, was prosperous at the time. By 1808, everything had changed. Portugal was under occupation and ravaged by famine, disease, economic problems and political instability. Spain had imploded and worse was to come. For the next six years, the peninsula was the helpless victim of others, suffering perhaps over a million deaths while troops from all over Europe tore it to pieces. Charles Esdaile's brilliant new history of the conflict makes plain the scope of the tragedy and its far-reaching effects, especially the poisonous legacy that produced the Spanish civil war of 1936-9.
Customer Reviews:
A spanish reader (Madrid,Spain).......2004-08-13
This is a serious and balanced book based on multiple reliable sources in the different languages that people that fought and has written about that war used; not just english: language and people. Specially interesting is the use of french sources and the analysis of civil population suffering inflicted by the french with retribution and counter retribution by spanish, portuguese ,french and so on. No doubt it is a clasic already,along Gate`s Spanish Ulcer and Lovett`s Napoleon and the Birth of Modern Spain in english; for the social aspects of the conflict Artola`s Afrancesados is still unmatched but not translated into english.
Best overall view.......2004-03-04
Esdaile's book is simply the best overall description of thePeninsular War. He realizes that war and battles do not exist in a vacuum from politics as well as the reverse, that war involves fighting. He thus spends much time on the intricacies of Cadiz government to show the limitations of the Spanish forces. His theses on the regular army and the guerillas are expanded from his early works as is the realtion of Wellington to the Spaniards. The Duke is not mythologised, but he is shown to be the outstanding personality of the war. Although his descriptions of battles are limited in scope and scale (see D. Gates "The Spanish Ulcer" for a better strictly military history), Esdaile places the war within the structure of the other conflicts at the time. This book is the definitive description of the entire war.
Rather unbalanced.......2003-09-30
The author makes a worthy attempt to say something new about the war, but the start of the book is turgid to say the least. He tries to provide a full socio-economic context for the events in the Peninsula, but goes around and around in circles over spain. Undoubtedly it is good to use the underutilised Spanish sources, which are indeed interesting, but the fact is that the war begins in Portugal, yet is is scaracely given more than a few pages of background. The maps are useful, but there is little meat in a lot of what he says. As a beginner's book, this would leave a lot of confusion. As a definitive work, there is little new apart from the Spanish sources. Perhaps a more clear organization of the book, with appropriate chapter headings and a better index would help. By the time he gets to the Pyrenees, he, like so many other narrators, has long since run out of steam, yet it is in some senses the crux or end of the story, even if it did not take place in Spain. I wish authors dealing with this period would get over the annoying habit of mentioning what will happen later, and then giving only partial information, for example Zaragossa. Perhaps a detailed list of all the battles/main locations with key dates/events might, but as it is it makes everything seem very patchy and badly thought out.
Perhaps if he had confined himself to Spain in the Peninsular war he would have done a great deal better. Likewise, a volume on Portugal, and on the Pyrenees would make much more sense than what he has ended up with. Since he has used so many Spanish sources, some of the basic ones British ones are badly neglected.
A highly critical history of the Peninsular War.......2003-06-12
Esdaile criticizes the mythological role of the partisans in the Peninsular War and the contention tht these irregular fighters had popular support. Esdaile believes the partisans were nothing more than draft dogers and bandits, who hindered rather than helped the Spanish cause. According to Esdaile the use of these guerrillas hampered the Spanish war effort because they took away valuable men from the army and committed numerous crimes against the civilian population. Esdaile states in this book that the guerrillas were motivated by personal profit and not by any sense of nationalism. In the concluding chapters of the book, Esdaile believes it was Napoleon blunders by asking his subordinates to launch offensives in eastern Spain which led to the western part of the country vulnerable to Welligton's offenisves that ultimately ended the war. I would reccomend this book to anyone who wants a new view of the Peninsular War.
Detailed Account of the Peninsular Campaign.......2003-05-29
Charles Esdaile's new book on the Peninsular War offers readers a comprehensive and in-depth study of this savage conflict that raged across Spain and Portugal between 1808 and 1814. In over 510 pages of text the author takes us through the reasons why this war started, the battles and campaigns as it progressed over the years and the many interesting facets behind the characters involved. Not only does the author cover the military aspects in detail but also he does not neglect those other important factors such as the politics of the Spanish Junta, Guerilla warfare and the effects on the civilian population.
All the major battles and campaigns are covered and I found the author to be refreshingly non-biased in his writing, offering laurels to those armies, soldiers and commanders that deserved praise, regardless of origin. The maps supplied, 22 in number, were detailed enough to follow the narrative but they could have been of a higher quality. The illustrations, 28 in number, were excellent. The choice of pictures and their quality (all colour prints) was outstanding and made the book that little bit more special.
I must confess that at times the narrative appeared to bog down, mainly when covering the politics of the war. That's not the author's fault but mine, I tend to appreciate the military aspects of a story more. These areas covered by the author in this regard where quite important to the story but I was always itching to get back to the battlefield and to follow the movement of the French and British armies as they maneuvered for another pitched battle.
Overall this is a great book covering this most important Napoleonic campaign. The author utilises numerous first-hand accounts from participants, both military and civilian and they blend in perfectly with the narrative. Its one of the better one-volume accounts and I would rank it along side another one of my personal favorites, `The Spanish Ulcer' by David Gates. I am sure that anyone who appreciates military history will enjoy this new title by Charles Esdaile.
Average customer rating:
- 2001 Award Winner
- Utter nonsense
- Bring Back Glynis
- A fast paced thriller chocked full of historical detail
- historical mystery that is very exciting
|
Brothers of Cain (Civil War Mysteries)
Miriam Grace Monfredo
Manufacturer: Berkley Hardcover
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
United States
| World Literature
| Literature & Fiction
| Subjects
| Books
| 18th Century
| 19th Century
| 20th Century
| African American
| Asian American
| Classics
| Collections & Readers
| Drama
| General
| Hispanic
| History & Criticism
| Humor
| Jewish American
| Letters & Correspondence
| Native American
| Poetry
| Short Stories
| Women Writers
Contemporary
| General
| Literature & Fiction
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Mystery
| Mystery & Thrillers
| Subjects
| Books
Historical
| Mystery
| Mystery & Thrillers
| Subjects
| Books
Women Sleuths
| Mystery
| Mystery & Thrillers
| Subjects
| Books
Monfredo, Miriam Grace
| ( M )
| Authors, A-Z
| Mystery & Thrillers
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Mystery & Thrillers
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Campaigns
| Civil War
| United States
| Americas
| History
| Subjects
| Books
Similar Items:
-
Children Of Cain
-
Sisters of Cain
-
Must the Maiden Die (Seneca Falls Historical Myster)
-
The Stalking-horse
-
Blackwater Spirits (Glynis Tryon Historical Mystery)
ASIN: 0425181898
Release Date: 2001-09-04 |
Book Description
In 1862 Virginia, during the tumultuous "Seven Days" battles of the Peninsula Campaign, federal troops prepare to capture Richmond. Undercover agent Bronwen Llyr is working with her sister Kathryn, a volunteer nurse for the Union Army, when they learn that their brother has been taken as a prisoner-of-war. Now, Bronwen must engineer his flight from prison before the date set for his hanging. But as time escapes her, so too does hope for her young brother.
As the harsh reality of war burns all too close to home, it is the sisters who fight for the brothers in their own battle of right and wrong, of love and war...
Praise for the Seneca Falls Historical Mystery Series:
"Seneca Falls is our perfect mirror for viewing the American women and men of the 1860s" (Chicago Tribune)
"[Monfredo] is at her best pulling plot twists out of actual events. Her research is evident of every page. (Publishers Weekly)
"Written beautifully, richly satisfying both to the head and to the heart." (Anne Perry)
Download Description
In 1862, while troops prepare to capture Richmond, undercover agent Bronwen Llyr begins her own battle: to free her brother from prison. But as time escapes her, so does hope.
Customer Reviews:
2001 Award Winner.......2004-04-29
Clearly the membership of The Historical Mystery Appreciation Society strongly disagreed with the reviewer below. HMAS gave BROTHERS OF CAIN the Herodotus Award as the Best Historical Mystery of 2001. And it was well deserved.
Utter nonsense.......2004-03-11
For a book to be labeled a "mystery," shouldn't there be some sort of mystery that needs to be solved? Even if it's just some guy in a mask scaring kids away from a lake to look for gold? Not to mention that the ease with which the "spy" goes about her business would make James Bond look inept. This book is sorely lacking in suspense, drama, mystery, romance, or credibility. It makes me wonder if the target audience is supposed to be adults or the young adult audience the previous series is supposedly aimed at.
Bring Back Glynis.......2003-01-23
I've read all of Monfredo's book. In my opinion, the best ones focused on Glynis and Seneca Falls although Glynis' trip to the south was an excellent view of plantation life from a northern woman's point of view.
I guess I haven't reviewed Brothers of Cain, though. It's hard because I can't help comparing these later books with Blackwater Spirits and Northstar Conspiracy. I'd like to see Monfredo background the nieces and get back to her original characters, who were much, much more believable and even more likable.
A fast paced thriller chocked full of historical detail.......2002-10-04
This is the second installment in Monfredo's 'Cain' series which focuses on heroine Bronwyn Llyr and the Civil War. This was a great fast-paced thriller, chocked full of historical detail as are all of Monfredos books. It would be helpful to have read the first book, but it is not entirely necessary. The historical quotes at the beginning of each chapter were fascinating and added another level of depth to the book. I enjoyed the subplots going on within Bronwyn's family-- including the budding romance between Bronwyn's sister and Dr. Travis, Bronwyn's brother's experiences as a prisoner of war Libby Prison, as well as the sad goodbye Bronwyn's Aunt Glynis must say to her longtime 'friend' Cullen Stuart. I was surprised to see a kinder and gentler agent O'Hara in the second installment, as I thought his unabashed male-chauvinism served merely as a foil to the liberated Bronwyn in the first novel. He was back, and provided some comic relief as well as a point of tension for Bronwyn who is unsure of his trustworthiness.
I am always happy to find that Monfredo has continued to focus on women's experiences of history. Feminists will probably particularly enjoy this novel, but it should bequite accessible and enjoyable to a wider audience.
historical mystery that is very exciting.......2001-09-05
In 1862, the War Between the States turns ugly as members of the same family may be fighting on different sides. This is not the case for the Llyr family who is staunchly pro-union. Kathryn is a nurse in the Volunteer Sanitary Commission, giving aid to anyone who is wounded. Her sister Bronwyn is an espionage agent working for the Treasury Department. They are both watching the wounded depart when a union private tells them that the Confederacy captured their brother Seth.
Bronwyn is determined to free her brother before they can connect him to her and hang him as a spy. Their superiors, including President Lincoln, recognize her determination and will let her try to free her brother while she completes her real assignment in Richmond where her brother is being kept. She has to somehow get the tobacco the English and French paid for out of confederate hands and into the buyers. This is needed so that the two European nations will think twice before enlisting on the side of the Confederacy. Spies, double agents, and treachery surround Bronwyn as she tries to do her jobs while keeping her skin intact.
Civil War buffs and fans of historical mysteries will not want to miss BROTHERS OF CAIN, a novel that stirs both the blood and the intellect. It's obvious that Miriam Grace Monfredo has done meticulous research in order to give a realistic depiction of this phase of the war. Readers will believe they are part of the action in this historical espionage thriller.
Harriet Klausner
Books:
- Shattered Sword: The Untold Story of the Battle of Midway
- Shattering the German Night: The Story of the White Rose
- SHE WHO DARED: Covert Operations in Northern Ireland with the SAS
- Slaughterhouse: The Handbook of the Eastern Front
- Son of the Morning Star
- Stalin's Ghost: An Arkady Renko Novel
- Tales From a Tin Can: The USS Dale from Pearl Harbor to Tokyo Bay
- The Battle of Mogadishu: First Hand Accounts From the Men of Task Force Ranger
- The Dred Scott Case: Its Significance in American Law and Politics
- The Face of Battle: A Study of Agincourt, Waterloo, and the Somme
Books Index
Books Home
Recommended Books
- In Vogue: The Illustrated History of the World's Most Famous Fashion Magazine
- After Midnight
- Shaping Primate Evolution: Form, Function, and Behavior
- Statistics and Chemometrics for Analytical Chemistry
- The Parthenon Code: Mankind's History in Marble
- Behind Adobe Walls: The Hidden Homes and Gardens of Santa Fe and Taos
- Vineyard Shadows: A Martha's Vineyard Mystery
- Second Home: Find Your Place in the Fun
- Skyscraper: Vertical Now
- Drug-Resistance Factors and Other Bacterial Plasmids
Sharpe's Honour (Richard Sharpe's Adventure Series #16)
Sharpe's Regiment (Richard Sharpe's Adventure Series #17)
Sharpe's Sword (Richard Sharpe's Adventure Series #14)
Sharpe's Siege (Richard Sharpe's Adventure Series #18)
Sharpe's Company (Richard Sharpe's Adventure Series #13)
