Too Few for Drums

Rating:
Summary: Too Few for Drums
Review: After reading Delderfield's Seven Men of Gascony I looked forward to this book with great anticipation. I was however gravely disappointed. The Penninsula campaign of the Napoleonic Wars is the setting for Too Few for Drums. This novel follows the trials of a young British ensign and his file of infantrymen as they make their way from behind French lines. It lacks the breadth and scope of his other novel. Some of the plot mechanism lack credulity. The ensign is transformed from an inexperienced self doubting young officer to a confident, future leader of men by the mere act of losing his virginity. Were it only so easy!

Rating:
Summary: Too Few for Drums
Review: After reading Delderfield's Seven Men of Gascony I looked forward to this book with great anticipation. I was however gravely disappointed. The Penninsula campaign of the Napoleonic Wars is the setting for Too Few for Drums. This novel follows the trials of a young British ensign and his file of infantrymen as they make their way from behind French lines. It lacks the breadth and scope of his other novel. Some of the plot mechanism lack credulity. The ensign is transformed from an inexperienced self doubting young officer to a confident, future leader of men by the mere act of losing his virginity. Were it only so easy!

Rating:
Summary: Not the greatest from Delderfield, or in Napoleonic Fiction
Review: I loved TO SERVE THEM ALL MY DAYS from Delderfield, and I did enjoy GOD IS AN ENGLISHMAN. I had never heard of this book before, however, and there's a reason. It's not that great! It was published in 1964, and was reissued this year, I think, to cash in on the popularity of Napoleonic novels such as Sharpe's Rifles. I loved the Sharpe series (READ IT!), so when I heard about this book, which also deals with the Peninsular campaign, I couldn't wait to get it. Well, actually, I could have! The plot is something out of an early 1960's movie (think B-version of Zulu, with Michael Caine). The depiction of the rank and file soldiers is shallow. The heroine Gwynneth is basically the Welsh Wonder Woman. Ensign Graham is the naive boy who learns to command after he sleeps with her, which automatically makes a man of him. Very stereotypical! Sounds like the plot of a 1980's T & A flick. In short, I really wouldn't recommend this book, because beyond all of the above listed shortcomings... it's boring! And that should be reason enough.

Rating:
Summary: Enjoyable Read
Review: While not the best novel for characterization, Too Few For Drums is an enjoyable novel about the Peninsular Campaign. The descriptions of Spain are good. The technical aspects of the novel including units, uniforms, movements of the armies, etc., are accurate. True, the characters are stereotypical and somewhat shallow. If anything, I would say that the novel was too short and needed more work before its release.

Rating:
Summary: Enjoyable Read
Review: While not the best novel for characterization, Too Few For Drums is an enjoyable novel about the Peninsular Campaign. The descriptions of Spain are good. The technical aspects of the novel including units, uniforms, movements of the armies, etc., are accurate. True, the characters are stereotypical and somewhat shallow. If anything, I would say that the novel was too short and needed more work before its release.