A Shred of Honour (Markham of the Marines) [Paperback]

Tom Connery (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 1, 2002 | Series: Markham of the Marines

As an Irish-Catholic and a reputed coward, Lieutenant George Markham is a marine with something to prove. When his commanding officer is killed at sea, Markham seizes his chance—and finds himself at the helm of a creaky frigate crewed by malcontents. Now, Markham must gain the crew's respect, teach them to fight as a unit, and lead them into the heart of Revolutionary France on a mission they aren't expected to survive.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

This new addition to the lively subgenre of adventure novels set around the time of the Napoleonic Wars is the first of three in the Markham of the Marines series originally published in the U.K.; it travels familiar ground, but acquits itself honorably enough. In 1793, when Lt. George Markham takes up a low-ranking commission in the English army, the French Revolution is only four years old and Napoleon is still a French artillery officer. On board the ship carrying Markham's regiment to the siege of Toulon, the officer's reputation is much discussed. Markham is an Irish bastard (son of an English general), "probably a Papist, certainly a rake," and labeled a coward because of a mysterious court martial 12 years earlier. Though no one trusts him to command even his ground troops after he is implicated in the death of another officer, Markham finds himself in charge of a "mixed bag of Lobsters and Bullocks"Amarines and armyAdefending Toulon from the onslaught of French troops. Once on the ground, the plot complications are worthy of Baroness Orczy or either Dumas. Is that silent boy the Dauphin? Are those anti-Terror bourgeois really Directorate spies? Has Markham seen a glimpse of incest? There is plenty of swashbuckling action and gory detail, and events include amorous dalliances, British snobbery and conflicting loyalties leading to diverse betrayals. A loving history of the English rifle "Brown Bess" and cameo appearances by Sir Sydney Smith, Horatio Nelson and Napoleon himself flesh out the military plot, which culminates in a daring last-minute escape from the victorious French. The writing is serviceable, and genre fans will probably enjoy the tale, as long as they don't expect anything near the level of Patrick O'Brian's Aubrey/Maturin novels. (Oct.)
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

From Booklist

Just when you thought the publishing industry was done with the Napoleonic wars, yet another saga of a British fighting man, in this case, Lieutenant George Markham of the Royal Marines, commences. When his superior is killed in action, Markham inherits command of a frigate's marine detachment--a motley crew of the king's bad bargains, half of them transferred soldiers. Taking them ashore at Toulon, under the censorious eyes of superiors who suspect him of being an Irishman, a Catholic, and a coward, Markham has to bring them to heel, train them in small-unit tactics (well depicted), and steer a course through the tangled web of French politics woven by both the perpetrators of the terror and those fleeing it. Several well-drawn historical characters, including the inevitable Lord Nelson and the undeservedly obscure Sir Sydney Smith, join the cast, and the action rises to a grand and bloody climax of fire, murder, and hairbreadth escape. In all, a highly promising launching. Roland Green --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 320 pages
• Publisher: Berkley Trade (August 1, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0425184986
• ISBN-13: 978-0425184981
• Product Dimensions: 6.1 x 0.8 x 9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,447,954 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Interesting but Implausible Action Yarn, April 3, 2001

By 

R. A Forczyk (MD, USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Shred of Honour (Hardcover)

Given the success of previous Napoleonic series, such as Hornblower, Sharpe and O'Bannon, it seems only natural that someone would attempt the seemingly effortless act of writing yet another novel of late 18th Century nautical yarns. Tom Connery has done just that. To be sure, there are new twists here, such as the focus on the Royal Marines and the author makes ample use of historical characters for his large cast of supporting figures.

The novel is set during the four-month siege of Toulon in 1793, with the protagonist being Lieutenant George Markham, a thirty-year old officer in the "65th Foot" (which did not serve at Toulon). Markham is portrayed as a "classic rogue": a bastard, alleged coward, rake with women, insubordinate but brave in the face of the enemy. Connery develops this character too slowly and with too much baggage. The great "revelation" of his supposed cowardice in an incident in the Battle of Guilford Courthouse in 1781 is rather inane. Then, after this "disgrace", Markham served in the Russian Army for a time. He also speaks French fluently and likes to play the role of females in plays. After awhile, Markham appears to be overly-complex and contrived. He is also misperceived by virtually everyone around him, and the book is full of snarling superiors who wish to see Markham dead and surly subordinates who wish the same. There is also Fouquert, a French Jacobin cut-throat, thrown in as the main nemesis.

In short, Markham's tiny thirty-man mixed army/marine detachment is sent ashore at Toulon and quickly finds itself in a desperate blocking action at the village of Ollioules. Connery has loosely based this novel on the real siege of Toulon, but only loosely. In the real skirmish at Ollioules, about 600 Spanish and British defeated a like-size force of French. Instead, Connery portrays Markham's thirty men fighting off over one thousand French infantry, virtually single-handed. In fact throughout the novel, Connery takes little effort to depict the efforts of other troops, which makes it seem that the entire British defense rests on Markham's little troop of misfits. There is plenty of action in the novel, in fact there is too much. The reader never really gets a good handle on this odd character because he is always dodging bullets or making love quickly with a passing French con-artiste to spend much time thinking or speaking.

One of the best scenes in the novel, when Markham's detachment is ordered to attack one of Napoleon's batteries in broad daylight, is exciting but also troubling. Markham succeeds by using advanced light infantry tactics that were non-standard for line infantry. How would he have learned these tactics? A better written novel would have shown some mentorship, some older, experienced soldier who would have passed on tactical wisdom to Markham. Not here. All Markham's superiors are depicted as idiotic blowhards. Markham apparently learns by ESP or something. Connery also goes to great lengths to make the Spanish look deceptive, including a Spanish colonel who is in collusion with a French spy. These departures from historical veracity and plausibility only serve to make the novel more contrived.

As one would expect, Markham and a handful of his men survive the ordeal after too many near-death encounters, all set for the next novel. By the end, Markham has won "a shred of honor" and the respect of at least his men, if not the reader.

15 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Compares favorably Richard Sharpe books by Bernard Cornwell, November 18, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Shred of Honour (Hardcover)

Tom Connery's writing style is easy to read and the story plot line is well laid out. His characters take awhile to develop. The hero of the story, Lieutenant George Markham, is hard to like at first but he grows on you. I have read all the books in the Richard Sharpe series by Bernard Cornwell and this book compares favorably to the first book in that saga. This book appears set up for a series (I think the sub tittle ' A Markham of the Marines Novel' suggest that) so we will see if Tom Connery can continue turning out a quality adventure series.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Sharpe meets Hornblower, September 27, 2002

By 

E. Tobias "Safety_Queen" (Minneaoplis, Minn., USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: A Shred of Honour (Markham of the Marines) (Paperback)

Action and mayhem are the words of the day with Lt. Markham's little band of not-so-merry men. Neither fish nor fowl (perhaps like the marines portrayed as neither soldiers nor sailors), this doesn't come across as a wind in your hair nautical adventure (since it pretty much all occurs on land), nor is it a soldier's tale.

It was interesting, and while certain combinations of characters are expected (the Gaelic NCO who must be persuaded to the reluctant support of the officer who is thrust without realization into his new role), they aren't completely re-hashed personalities.

While Markham doesn't appear to be cut from the same cloth as the rest of the men of the late 18th Century, in his opinions and actions, he and his companions were drawn well. Many hints of intrigue or seeds for curiosity to draw you to the man (who served in the British army in the Revolutionary War, then the czarist army in Russia, and now is back in the British army and foist onto the RN). Will his purported cowardice, previous love interests, etc. come back to haunt him in further adventures?

Worth reading. Not entirely sure it's worth pursuing into vol. 2, which the author's postscript indicated was coming. Obviously the first of a series.