Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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22 of 22 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Better than Sharpe, August 17, 2001
I love the Sharpe series, but the Bonaparte's Sons, Bonaparte's Invaders and Bonaparte's Conquerors are as exciting and more believable. The series follows the adventures of Alain Lausard a former criminal released during the later stages of the French revolution to fight for Napoleon. This the third book in the series includes Bonaparte's rise to power following his return from Egypt and his campaign in Italy which culminates in the brilliantly described battle of Marengo. Great characters, Lausards fellow troopers also ex-criminals, are brilliantly portrayed. Most of all I enjoyed the battle scenes. The novel also moves to scenes with Bonaparte, providing insights into Napoleon's thoughts at crucial moments. For those who love historical novels these are a must read!
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3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Lausard rejects riches but embraces war, March 10, 2008
This is the best of the first three books in Howard's Lausard six-book series. The book covers the time from Napoleon's return to Paris from Egypt, and continues until the last hours in the aftermath of the bloody day at Morengo. By the time the story ends, Lausard eschews the plunder and riches promised the army by Bonaparte. He realizes that he needs the wars to survive and to live down the pain of his past. He is "born again hard."
The first 100 pages or so of the book do a nice job developing the dynamics behind, and the process of, the coup d'etat on the 18th Brumaire. Lausard is a first-hand participant as the transfer of the reigns of power for the consulate passed to Bonaparte after the dissolution of the Deputies at St. Cloud.
The next third of the book is a competent and fast-moving story of the crossing of the Great St. Bernard. The feeling of the steep slopes, and the difficult condition in the May snow, going down the Italian face to Aosta, is vivid. The travails of the crossing are well described and a sense of high danger is palpable.
The most realistic scenes are in the move of the Army down the Val d'Aosta, criss-crossing the banks of the Dorea Baltea. Howard does well in setting the scenes of the gaping deep valley, as well as the rushing fury and eerie sounds of the river during the high intensity late-Spring runoff. The passage at Fort Bard is thrilling, and finally culminates as the Austrians are run off at Ivrea.
Howard treats Napoleon with more respect in this volume than in the earlier ones, and the character of Lausard is crisper and less sentimental.
Just as in the real campaign, the action of the book quickly turns to the bloody events at Morengo. In the course of the battle, Lausard is witness to the valiant death of Louis Charles Atione Desaix -- a true aristocrat who is interred today in the walls of the Monastery at the Great St. Bernard. It is interesting to set the character of Desaix himself against the fictional image of Lausard.
However, the death of Desaix passes notice fast because of the confusion on the battlefield. On balance, Howard renders the confusion and the brutality of the battle well. The anxieties of Napoleon vaccilate and the fortunes of the army go with it. In the end, everyone, from the commander to the ranks, solidifies and a rally ensues to forge a victory from the grasp of defeat.
I might be cheating a little -- as I have spent many hours in the Val D'Aosta and on the fields of Maregno after traversing the haunting valley of the Dorea Baltea. However, the book fits nicely with that background. It puts characters in the hills and on the fields to enliven appreciation of the place. I think that is a valuable contribution to the literature.
All told, I can recommend this book as a quality effort. It would always be nice to read it on a few days of travel in the region. This is an action book and the morality lessons are minimized. It is a good thing, because it balances out the over-indulgent moralizing in the Invaders. For now -- the real tension of the tale is that which fights for the soul of Lausard himself. Who is he, where is he from, and where is he going?
If action makes a good book, then this is a good book. It is rich with insights and characters on both sides of the lines. The tensions of the quest for glory has passed, and now the French are onto the business of war and the spoils that go along. Lausard is still searching for his true self, but he is a bigger, richer character, growing in leadership and ruggedness. He is destined for greater things ... the Legion of Honor, the Guarde Imperiale. Perhaps he will rise like Lannes and others to Marshal of France.
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by Richard Howard
by Richard Howard
by Gerald Simons
by Richard Howard
by Richard Howard
