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Rating: 
Summary: Vive L'Gerard
Review: Everybody knows about Arthur Conan Doyle and his famous Sherlock Holmes stories, but I suspect a lot of people don't know that he was also an outstanding writer of historical fiction. Sir Nigel and The White Company are two examples that come immediately to mind. Both are superb novels about English knights and soldiers in the 13th and 14th centuries. And this one, Brigadier Gerard, is a collection of stories written in the first person by a fictional French cavalry officer during the Napoleanic wars. If you're looking for a historical overview of Napoleon's achievements, this is not the place for it. What you do get, though, is a series of singular adventures which take place in the villages, cafes, forests and fields of the Europe visited by invading French armies. There is Gerard's trip of revenge to the "Castle of Gloom" in Austria. His ear is chopped off in a Venetian dungeon. He is captured by guerrillas in Portugal, and manages to escape from a hideous death. He is double-crossed by a beautiful vixen in Germany. There is his murderous midnight meeting with Napoleon. And yes, he is present at Waterloo, but spends the battle in the second-floor loft of an inn, after the first floor is commandeered by enemy wounded. The book is loaded with interesting tidbits of military folklore. He recognizes a ford in the river, for example, by noticing the placement of two buildings on either side of it. Here is his comment on travelling through enemy territory: "I should not have feared to ride by the road through the wood, for I have learned in Spain that the safest time to pass through a guerrilla country is after an outrage." And Gerard himself is as enjoyable a character as we could wish for in relating these tales. He will tell you that he is unfailingly handsome, loyal and brave, but he does have his foibles. He doesn't seem to realize that he is a bit of a braggart, and he's often not quite as smart as he thinks he is. However, it is Doyle's triumph that we look upon Gerard's weaknesses with fondness, rather than contempt, or disbelief. For Gerard, more than anything, is honest. He recounts his failures as well as his successes, and there is a great sense of pathos when we often hear the regret in his voice recounting specific events in his life. Here he is, for example, reflecting on an old love: "Etienne Gerard has his sword, his horse, his regiment, his mother, his Emperor and his career. A debonair Hussar has room in his life for love, but none for a wife. So I thought then, my friends, but I did not see the lonely days when I should long to clasp those vanished hands, and turn my head away when I saw an old comrades with their tall children standing around their chairs." This book has everything: adventure, romance, military lore, horses, swords, beautiful women and blood. If you like Flashman or Hornblower, you will love this.
Rating:
Summary: very enjoyable
Review: How Sir Arthur Conan Doyle can write a character that is irritatingly arrogant yet, charmingly loyal and naive is beyond me. The depth of Gerard's character rivals even the great Sherlock Holmes. Just as with his more famous counterpart(Holmes), Gerard is not just a hero(although there can be no questioning his bravery),he can also be a clown,(without ever realizing it)a ladies man, the greatest swordsman in the Grande' Armee(or at least so he tells us). With exciting short stories we venture through Gerard's career as a cavalry officer. He quite often bumbles his way into situations an officer of his rank should never allow himself into yet, it is these situations once gotten out of(after much daring and a little bit of luck)that build not only his career but, the readers passion for his character. These stories are an excellent companion to the more famous Sherlock Holmes stories. Where have all the writers with skills like Doyle's gone?
Rating:
Summary: very enjoyable
Review: I expected to be disappointed with these stories since I knew that I would be comparing them to the Holmes stories. But, quite frankly, I enjoyed Etienne Gerard as much as I enjoyed Sherlock Holmes and when I had finished the book, I found myself wishing that Doyle had written more stories about Brigadier Gerard. Gerard is a very different character than Holmes, but the characterization is just as brilliant. I highly recommend these stories.
Rating:
Summary: Fabulous fun in the Napoleonic Wars!
Review: Perhaps the most entertaining and funny of all Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's creations is Brigadier Gerard, hussar in the Napoleonic armies of France. Confident and brash but very foolish, he is the epitome of chivalry and adventure. These collected tales vary in quality, but most of them are vivid, exciting and very humourous. They are packed full of incident and memorable characters - none more so than Gerard himself - and are a marvellous evocation of that period of European history.
Rating:
Summary: Conan Doyle at his best.
Review: This work of Sir Conan Doyle clearly shows that detective stories did not limit his interests. An excellent adventure and a well written one. What else do we need in a good book? This is very solid five stars.
Rating:
Summary: Conan Doyle at his best.
Review: This work of Sir Conan Doyle clearly shows that detective stories did not limit his interests. An excellent adventure and a well written one. What else do we need in a good book? This is very solid five stars.
Rating:
Summary: "Old soldiers never die" - not with stories like these!
Review: Well now, I know you have been here: You have found a book that is so delightful that you just cannot bear to put it down. I know that we all have experienced this. But folks, I will tell you in all honesty that I became quite ridiculously attached to this book to its final page. I brought it to work to be my next " On my break read.." but found that the first night I drove home after having left it in my locker ( as is my custom ) I felt compelled to return to work and fetch it. Thanks goodness I live about 3 miles from my workplace! Well, certainly many of us carry books with us to stores and such so that we have something to read when we are caught in the "express" lane ( ! ) and this became another one of those.
But I found myself reading it at stop lights and becoming irritated when the light changed before I had a chance to really GET anywhere...Now I never in my wildest dreams imagined that I would like this character Gerard as much as I do, given that, in my mind, he stood in Sherlock's shadow, but I have become quite smitten with him! I fancied myself a Doyle fan, but had never read this series, as I was too enraptured by the mysteries and dectective stories. How sad that I waited so long to try these wonderful stories! No doubt that some of you ladies out there might be thinking that a series of stories about a soldier in Napoleon's army might be as interesting as televised fishing, or that they would only appeal to a man, but nay! Not so! If you are a fan of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's Sherlock, then you will be every bit as entertained by Gerard. Doyle's style is no different, it is just as voluptuous. Only his main character has changed. He is an entirely different sort of fellow from our man Sherlock, but no less exciting in his own way...Very much like... if you were to, perhaps, put Dr. Watson's character in Gerard's place. Oh but I cannot tell you how very enjoyable these stories are, and it has been awhile since I have felt so passionate about a character...I kept longing for more..At times there would be a turn of the phrase that would make me laugh out loud, and then a bit later perhaps I would be curled on my chair with my hand across my chest, eyes wide in amazement! - as if being TOLD these stories by an old war hero! At times the events are so marvelous ( unbelieveable bits of luck and chance..) that I am reminded of Michael Palin's "Ripping Yarns," when an entire escape scene is deleted and Micheal returns to the camera and exclaims, " What an AMAZING escape!" There is that gaffy quality to it...But at the same time, there are "scenes" where this character's humanity is so full and well spent that one feels a sincere warmth for him..
But I have prattled on long enough. If you are looking for a good read, with nearly everything a story depends upon to be a real page-turner, then by all means, DO check this book out! It is, as they say over the pond, " Ripping good stuff. "
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