Customer Reviews

seven men of gascony

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Despite what others have said about this book I have always found it worthwhile. I recently re-read it after many years and still found it to be a sweeping saga of the Napoleanic wars. Perhaps readers are too taken with the more sleek, action packed yarns of today to allow themselves to get into Delderfield's world of the Napoleanic wars. Yes the book starts off a bit slow, and yes its not as action packed as some other historical fiction on the same period. But Delderfield's strength lies in his story-telling, and this book gradually enfolds you into the epic of what was the campaigns of Napolean. After a while you find yourself swept up into the episodic writing of this story which takes its seven Voltiguers on a tour-de-force of Napoelean's battles. The author has a deep love for the period which is reflected in his style of writing. Delderfield is a writer of the old school. His story and characters slowly grow on you if you allow time for it to do so. While I agree with one reader that it would have been nice if some description of the kind of skirmish tactics the French Voltigeurs employed on the battlefield were provided, I didn't find that it detracts from the story that much. This book was written many years ago before the plethora of military historical fiction was available. I'am sure this book served as inspiration for many of the Sharpe novels et al that we see today. C.H. Forester and R.F Delderfield were the fathers of Napoleanic military historical fiction. These works stand up well over time, and since there are few books in English on the French perspective out there this makes "Seven Men" even more important. Give this book time and allow it to enfold you into its sweeping, epic events that were the horror and grandeur of the
wars of Napolean.

I have been a Delderfield fan (female) for 30 years but had not yet read any of his Napoleonic tales. Having recently enjoyed the Hornblower books, and Sharpe and Hornblower video series, I decided to give my library-sale copy a try. I read it on vacation this past week and truly enjoyed it. The story of the seven comrades drew me into the story of the war from a French perspective (moderated, of course, by Delderfield's inherent Britishness). While steering away from melodrama, I would not consider the book at all "plodding," as another reviwer put it. The scenes featuring Napoleon brought on the tingles created by the best of fiction or drama. Recommended.

This book isn't easy to get into. Delderfield's use of language is somewhat plodding, and there's something indefinably off about the story's pace. Still, for readers who stick with it, this book is worthwhile. It starts out with seven voltigeurs in Napoleon's army, and we know from the prologue that we're going to end up with only one left, but we don't know which one it will be. The process of whittling the characters down to one survivor is long, gruesome and, in its cumulative effect, emotionally moving. Delderfield is at his best in descriptions of camp life and foraging, perhaps not as good at large battle scenes -- I was disappointed to get so little on what the voltigeurs, essentially professional skirmishers, did. I would certainly recommend this for readers with a certain amount of patience.

An excellent story. Well written to sustain your interest to the last word.

It is also an excellent introduction to the naploenic wars, telling the highs and lows of the era from the view point of group of soldiers in Napoleaon's Grand Army.

The tale of the seven maintains your interest in the story from the beginning to the end.

This novel follows seven French voltigeurs (skirmishers) through the later years of the Napoleonic wars. We join them on Lobau Island, on the eve of the battle of Aspern-Essling, and follow them through Wagram, the occupation of Vienna, Massena's peninsular campaign of 1810, a stint as POWs in England, the 1812 catastrophe in Russia, the desperate campaigning of 1813 and 1814, the first restoration of the Bourbons, the 100 days and Waterloo. By the end, there is only one left, the others having fallen along the way. There is a beautiful young Cantiniere who is also in the mix, and marries two of the men at different times.

Delderfield writes very well, although there is, occasionally, a jarring note, as when one of the men refers to the "gods of the First Empire." While a German in the 1940s might refer to the "Third Reich," a Frenchman in the Napoleonic wars would not, for obvious reasons, refer to the "First Empire." He also has them referring to the battle as "Aspern" or "Aspern-Essling" whereas I believe the French refer to it only as Essling. But the few minor slip-ups do not detract from the wonderful, clear and lucid writing style.

Delderfield's female characters are strong and decisive. They are not wilting flowers. This is true of the Cantiniere, Nicholette, and also true of an Englishwoman whose path they cross in England. This seems to be true of many of his female characters, because his other novel on the Napoleonic wars, "Too Few For Drums," also features a very wise and decisive female character.

Delderfield doesn't try to overwhelm you with historical detail. Although the backdrop is the Napoleonic wars, the story is about people, not battles. Only Waterloo is described in any detail at all. Delderfield does, however, weave in many factual anecdotes, as well as some trenchant, incisive historical commentary.

Although you will probably be able to guess who will survive, the ending is no less poignant. Delderfield even writes a postcript in which the survivor, many years later--in a dream sequence similar to the ending of "Titanic"--at last joins his comrades in death.

I seldom read classics anymore, except ones which I read as a kid and keep re-reading. One of the reasons is that writing has "advanced" and modern authors, who are good writers, build upon the work and technique of old ones. I think of writing as like an art and a skill, where new authors can learn from and improve from older works. After all, once you have invented a journey to the center of the Earth or murder on the Orient Express you can only improve upon it; the genre has already been written. Furthermore, new writing is often faster, less formal and easier to read.

So even though I bought Seven Men of Gascony more than 6 months ago, I kept it on the shelves, reading newer and more dramatic fiction. However, I wanted to take a break from non-stop reading and thought this book would be slower reading.

I was wrong. The book started slow, but once I started reading it, I couldn't stop. The book started off slow and the prologue was mysterious since it didn't really lead anywhere. This prologue is actually a technique used in books and screenplays which isn't used much anymore; you don't know what it means until you finish the book, and then you go back and re-read it and it makes sense.

To the book itself, two things make a good book:

1) Character development. The character development is great. We are introduced to the 7 men (and 1 woman) one by one and the characters grow on you as you read along. I wasn't able to put down the book because I wanted to read what happened to them next, from the ups to downs and ups again. I kept reading until 4:30am last night just to get to the end of a chapter. Characters is really what makes a book good. In some books, they are just plot devices to keep the story going, but in this case, the author has really fleshed them out and made them real. You really feel for them.

2) Story. The story isn't a military history book, it really is about the experiences of the 7 men in the battles and starts at Aspern and ends at Waterloo. As the result, I felt the book was too short, because so many events happened in those tumultuous years. During that time, the men participated in the wars against Austria, the Peninsular War, were POWs in England, were in the Russian Campaign, the wars against the 6th coalition, the restoration and Waterloo. So you can see that a lot of ground was covered, easily enough for 3 books. Yet, the author managed to cover each section in some detail. What was equally striking was that he managed to convey all the horrors that the men suffered in the most terrible campaigns of the period: the Peninsular War and the Russian retreat, I not only read, but felt the privations and terrors of each. The man truly is a great author and writer to put all that down into words, and into a single book as well. That's why I felt that the book could easily have been much longer.

Comments: Though some other reviewers mentioned that the author didn't get into what the voltiguers did technically, the author did. Perhaps it was difficult to recognize for readers not familiar with Napoleonic tactics, but voltiguers were usually skirmishers or light infantry who scouted and went ahead of the main column of infantry and shot at enemy skirmishers and aggravated the opposing main column of men. Voltigeurs had much more freedom of movement and were chosen because they were smarter and could make individual decisions, and it's well that Delderfield chose them rather than line infantry, whose only action would have been marching in column and fighting in a huge mass of other line infantry.

Delderfield also weaved many historical vignettes into this narrative, such as when Marshal Ney reportedly fired the last shot in Russia, or waved his broken sword at Waterloo, or the drowning of Prince Poniatowski, which made the book so much more realistic.

Other readers mentioned CS Forester and Cornwell, and I'm of a mind that had he installed these 7 men into a series such as that of Hornblower or Sharpe, it would have been as much of a success and as well known, if not more. Alas, the opportunity is lost.

All in all, it was a great book, very well written, conveyed all the feelings of the 7 men across. The horror of the war left me sad and sickened, and that is the true measure of good writing.

Lastly, Delderfield really knew his stuff. His historical accuracy was spot on, down to the equipment and battle knowledge. I highly recommend this book to readers who like the Napoleonic Wars, military history and good fiction. A true treasure and I will immediately look for his other books to read.

Delderfield has done an excellent job at protraying the life and experiences of average French soldiers during 1809-15. The novel follows six recruits and their veteran sergeant as they fight their way across Europe with Napoleon's armies. The 'petit corporal' himself makes a cameo appearance or two, as do several of the Marshals.

Aspects of camp life are excellently explained, and the 'cantinere' (female camp follower and regimental shop owner) plays a major role.

The seven men, Voltigeurs (light infantrymen) participate in the 1809 campaign on the Danube, getting their baptism of fire at the slaughterhouse of Aspern-Essling, and then Wagram. They then are transferred to Spain, where they experience the brutalities of the Guerilla war, fighting at Bussaco in 1810 and marching with Massena's army to the Lines of Torres Vedras. They then spend a spell as POWs in England before travelling back to France to take part in the futile Russian campaign in 1812 and the 1813-14 battles in Germany and France. The portrayal of the combat at Leipzig is particularly intense. The final combat for the Voltigeurs is on the bloody field of Waterloo.

While anyone could pick up this book and enjoy the story (my girlfriend did) a bit of background knowledge of the Napoleonic era makes the book doubly rewarding. If you are interested in this book, do check out Delderfield's 'Napoleon's Marshals', which is of similar style.

Highly reccomended.

This has been the first novel that I have read for many years and what a delight it was to read. Although this book was first published in 1949 it still offers anyone interested in the Napoleonic Wars an engrossing story of men at war.

The author provides the reader with a great story of seven French Voltiguers (elite skirmishers and/or marksmen) fighting during the campaigns of the Empire under Napoleon from the battle of Aspern to the final showdown at Waterloo.

We trudge through cannonades and cavalry charges, hot dusty treks into Spain and Portugal and into the Winter of Russia before the final campaigns and battles of 1813, 1814 and 1815. Although the battle scenes are not in-depth accounts the author provides enough for the reader to get a feel for the heat of battle

I found myself rushing through the book to find out what happened to my brave Voltiguers and actually felt a touch of sadness at the end of the story for the fate of these brave men.

I first read this book nearly thirty years ago. I have an abiding interest in the Napoleonic era so this book fits right in. Beyond that it is a very good read. It is a book I am more than happy to add to my library. Considering all of the characters in the book it is pretty easy to follow the story lines.

Seven Men of Gascony is a well researched, fascinating book about a group of French sharpshooters in the Napoleonic Wars. It is definitely worth your time. Great read.