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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
This book is a smashing success for its first-time author!,
By
Amazon Verified Purchase(What's this?)
This review is from: A Close Run Thing (Wellington's Infantry) (Hardcover)
What Bernard Cornwell did for Wellington's infantry and Patrick O'Brian did for the Royal Navy, Allan Mallinson has done for the cavalry, and, in so doing, has written a book that is an excellent image of the early 19th century in England. While this book accurately reflects the military events of the time, what makes it such a memorable read is its depiction of the society and characteristics of the era. This reader hopes that Mallinson takes Matthew Hervey into some of the other events that a cavalryman might experience in the post- Waterloo age Talent like this should not stop with one. If dashing characters, action and romance are your forte, you will not go wrong with this fine, first effort. As for me, I'm looking forward to the next one--an eternal optimist!
7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Good historical fiction that falls short on military issues.,
By A Customer
This review is from: A Close Run Thing (Wellington's Infantry) (Hardcover)
This is a well written piece of historical fiction. It focusses on a British dragoon officer in the period between the end of the Penninsula Wars (1814) and the Battle of Waterloo (1815). It is the first of what will apparently become a series of novels. This is not Richard Sharpe on horseback. Mallinson lacks Cornwell's style and narrative power and fails to provide the battle details that bring the Sharpe novels to life. Instead Mallinson focusses more on the social aspects of the times and the world of officers and gentleman. He apparently knows horses very well and this adds to the telling of his story. Lets hope our young hero goes to India after this or someplace else where the battlefield context can be explored to the depth it requires.
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Hurrah for the Light Dragoons!,
By
This review is from: A Close Run Thing: A Novel of Wellington's Army of 1815 (Paperback)
Mr. Mallinson dedicates his book, appropriately to the Light Dragoons, formally the 13th/18th and 15th/19th Hussars. These fine old regiments, like so many in the British Army today, are no more, and live on in truncated form. Mallinson pays tribute to them in his book. Cornet Hervey is a different kind of hero. Those use to the head-bashing logic of Sharpe and co. may find this book a bit of a challenge. I must confess I did at first, but what we have here is a different perspective of the time, and perhaps a somewhat more realistic one. Mallinson's character is educated, and accomplishes more with brains than brawn, though he does not lack in his saber skills, and has a rash temper to boot!Still, we are not dealing with another Sharpe here, and Mallinson attempts to provide a portrait of the time as well. The middle section where the regiment is stationed in Ireland was particularly well done, as it shows how difficult the transition must be for soldiers to become policemen. Also readers can see how difficult the Irish posting was for British soldiers then, as it is now. Hervey is not a rake like Sharpe, and he must agonize before declaring his love for the woman he desires. The depiction of Waterloo was interesting as well, since Mallinson places Hervey on the left flank of the battlefield, the part of the battle often least discussed, because it lacked the glamor of Hugamont and Le Haie Sainte positions. But this flank was extremely important to Wellington, as the arrival of the Prussians were crucial to the success of the battle. Hervery expereinces the trials and tribulations of awaiting the slow moving Prussians, and must attemept to effectively liason with them as they arrive. Perhaps the characters are a little less vibrant, and the writing a bit slow at times, but this series has promise. Hervey will need to explore his career in the 19th Century British Empire, and will therefore provide the reader with an interesting transition from the conventional warfare of the Napoleanic period, to the smaller affais of the Empire. Perhaps we might get the Sikh Wars in a future installment as well!
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