A Close Run Thing [Unabridged, Audiobook] [Audio Cassette]

Allan Mallinson (Author), Eric Graham (Narrator)

Book Description

Publication Date: 2000

Brigadier Allan Mallinson is a. cavalry officer who has served all over the world and within the Ministry of Defence. This is his first work offiction. It's 1814, and Napoleon is hard-pressed toy, defend France from a combination of Russia, Prussia, Austria, and Britain. Nor is he the only one in a quandary. Matthew Hervey, a young British cornet, is in a rather unusual situation. As far as he knows, it's highly irregular to be arrested on a battlefield after a successful action. Still, it's hardly the first time politics has interrupted war, and as Hervey's career progresses, he increasingly balances both, sometimes more successfully than others!

Product Details

• Audio Cassette
• Publisher: Clipper Audio (2000)
• Language: English
• ASIN: B000W2ITOA
• Product Dimensions: 8.7 x 5.1 x 2.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (24 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #7,577,633 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

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!, July 16, 1999

By 

John G. Gleeson Sr. (Frederic, Mi USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

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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., November 15, 1999

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!, August 31, 2001

By 

Roger Kennedy (USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

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!