Customer Reviews

Four Days in June

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Iain Gale's first effort is magnificent!

Using the Michael Sharra technique from "Killer Angels", Gale gets inside the heads of the leading protagonists at the Battle of Waterloo over the course of four bloody and tiring days. The result is very readable, believable and technically accurate-if you enjoyed "Killer Angels" you'll love this one.

Hopefully this is the first of many books from this terrific writer-Mr. Gale, I am clearing space in my library in anticipation....

I picked up this book being a big fan of Bernard Cornwell's Richard Sharpe Series. Gale tackles the Napoleonic War's climactic battle (Waterloo) by providing readers with 5 different perspectives on either side of the events(Napoleon, Ney, Ziethen, MacDonnel, and DeLancey). Fans of historical fiction will enjoy Gale's attention to detail and his ability to thread a cohesive narrative through the maze of events of those sometimes rather chaotic "four days in June." I found the book an easy and entertaining read. Although Gale has a tendancy to get a bit melodramatic with his prose, students of the battle who have an understanding of the people and events involved will give him a bit of literary leeway in these sometimes overly flowery bits. All in all, Gale is a very capable author, and gives due diligence to the people and the events of Waterloo, crafting a very entertaining and informative novel.

I enjoyed reading this book. I found it entertaining and interesting and it kept me up wanting to read it. Certainly there are better and more detailed books on the subject available, but this effort satisfied me with a colorful account of this short yet decisive period. As a first book from this writer it is very good, and I give it 5 stars for such an entertaining first up achievement. I also recommend "The Battle: A Novel (Paperback)

~ Patrick Rambaud" One of my favorite Napoleonic books. The Battle: A Novel

Finally - an easily digested introduction to warfare in the Napoleonic era which works on both an academic and visceral level. A real page-turner and highly recommended to anyone interested in adding more 'historical' to their 'fiction'.