The Sunday Times bestselling author Allan Mallinson, brings us another action-packed and stirring Matthew Hervey adventure. If you like Patrick O'Brian, Bernard Cornwell and CS Forester, this will not disappoint! "A thoroughly satisfying and entertaining read" - THE TIMES "Matthew Hervey has now joined Bernard Cornwell's Sharpe and Patrick O'Brian's Jack Aubrey" - Birmingham Post "After just half-a-dozen pages I was hooked." -- ***** Reader review "An excellent book, when you start reading you cannot put it down. Allan Mallinson at his best!!!" -- ***** Reader review "Essential reading for military buffs" -- ***** Reader review ********************************************************************** India 1819: Matthew Hervey is charged with raising a new troop, and organising transport for India - for he, his men and their horses are to set sail with immediate effect. What Hervey and his soldiers cannot know is that in India they will face a trial for which they are woefully under prepared. A large number of Burmese war-boats are assembled near Chittagong, and the only way to thwart their advance involves a hazardous march through the jungle. Soon Hervey and his troop are in the midst of hot and bloody action once again... A Call To Arms is the fourth book in Allan Mallinson's Matthew Hervey series. His adventures continue in The Sabre's Edge. Have you read his previous adventures A Close Run Thing, The Nizam's Daughters and A Regimental Affair?
The Sunday Times bestselling author Allan Mallinson, brings us another enthralling Matthew Hervey adventure. If you like Patrick O'Brian, Bernard Cornwell and CS Forester, you will love this! "What a hero! What an author! What a book! A joy for the lover of adventure and military buff alike" -- LYN MACDONALD, THE TIMES "Splendid...the tale is as historically stimulating as it is stirringly exciting" -- ANDREW ROBERTS, SUNDAY TELEGRAPH "Impeccably researched and rooted in both time and place" -- ***** Reader review "A thrilling tale" -- ***** Reader review "Allan Malinson tells an absorbing tale and gives a wonderful insight into life at that time." -- ***** Reader review ******************************************************************** India, 1824: Matthew Hervey and the 6th Light Dragoons are stationed in India, where conflagration looks set to flair. The usurper prince, Durjan Sal, has taken refuge in the infamous fortress of Bhurtpore. A deep ditch, which can be flooded at a moment's notice, runs round it - and as its notorious Tower of Victory - built with the skulls of defeated men - bears witness, it has withstood all attacks made on it. Until now. Hot and dangerous work lies ahead for Matthew Hervey and his courageous troop who know their fortunes will be decided by the sabre's edge. A Sabre's Edge is the fifth book in Allan Mallinson's Matthew Hervey series. His adventures continue in Rumours of War. Have you read his previous adventures A Close Run Thing, The Nizam's Daughters, A Regimental Affair and A Call to Arms?
From the Sunday Times bestselling author Allan Mallinson, a riveting read with the perfect combination of hero, history and adventure - perfect for fans of Patrick O'Brian and Bernard Cornwell. "Convincingly drawn, perfectly paced and expertly written...A Joy to read" - Antony Beevor. "I can't wait to read the next in the series..." - ***** Reader review. "A captivating read..."- ***** Reader review. "Allan Mallinson is a truly gifted storyteller..."- ***** Reader review. ************************************************************************* Waterloo 1815. The war against Napoleon Bonaparte is raging to its bloody end at Waterloo. A young officer - Cornet Matthew Hervey - going about his duty suddenly finds himself at the crux of events. The decisions he has to make - both military and romantic - will change the course of his life, and possible have far reaching political consequences... A Close Run Thing is the first book in Allan Mallinson's Matthew Hervey series. His adventures continue in The Nizam's Daughters.
Perfect for fans of Patrick O'Brian, Bernard Cornwell and CS Forester, another captivating Matthew Hervey adventure from the pen of THE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLING AUTHOR Allan Mallinson. "Allan Mallinson...has done for the British Army what C. S. Forester and Patrick O'Brian did for the Royal Navy, and his novels are every bit as addictive...Splendid, irresistible stuff" -- ALLAN MASSIE, SPECTATOR "A fascinating, lively romp" - THE TIMES "With each successive novel, Mallinson grows in stature as an author; one looks forward eagerly to the next instalment of Hervey's life." -- LONDON EVENING STANDARD "Another great book from a brilliant author" -- ***** Reader review "Magnificent!" -- ***** Reader review "This is a must series to follow" -- ***** Reader review ****************************************************************** January 1829: George IV is on the throne, Wellington is England's prime-minister, and the population has been enjoying long-term peace. But this happy state of affairs means cuts in the army, and Hervey is told that his regiment, the Sixth, are to be reduced to a single squadron. With his long-term plans in disarray, he undertakes instead a six-month assignment as an observer with the Russian army. Soon Hervey, his friend Edward Fairbrother and his faithful groom, Private Johnson, are sailing north to St Petersburg, and from there to the Eastern Balkans, and the ferocious war between Russia and the Ottoman Empire. Hervey is meant to be an impartial spectator, but soon the circumstances - and his own nature - propel him into a more active role. In the climactic Battle of Kulewtscha, Hervey and Fairbrother find themselves in the thick of the action. For Matthew Hervey, the stakes have never been higher - or more personal.
Another riveting Matthew Hervey adventure from the Sunday Times bestselling author Allan Mallinson, combining hero, history and drama to perfection. If you like Patrick O'Brian and Sharpe, you'll love this! "A marvellous read, paced like a well-balanced symphony ... This is more than a ripping yarn..." - The Times "This is an engaging work...The attention to detail is admirable" -- Daily Express "I strongly recommend this book (and the series) to any lover of this genre. FIVE STARS" - ***** Reader review. ************************************************************************* 1816: Fresh from the field at Waterloo, and leaving behind his fiancée Lady Henrietta Lindsey, Matthew Hervey is dispatched to India on a secret mission. The state of Chintal is threatened by both intrigue from within and military might from without. Hervey finds he is once more destined for the battlefield. In a land at once alien, exotic and beguiling, Matthew Hervey's mettle will be tested to the limit... Have you read A Close Run Thing - the first Matthew Hervey adventure? The Nizam's Daughters is the second book in Allan Mallinson's Matthew Hervey series. His adventures continue in A Regimental Affair.
Perfect for fans of Patrick O'Brian, Bernard Cornwell and CS Forester, another engrossing Matthew Hervey adventure from the pen of THE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLING AUTHOR Allan Mallinson. "Captain Matthew Hervey is as splendid a hero as ever sprang from an author's pen." -- THE TIMES "I enjoyed the adventure immensely...As compelling, vivid and plausible as any war novel I've ever read" -- DAILY TELEGRAPH "With this intelligent but pacy book, Brigadier Mallinson stays well on course to be regarded as the landlubbers' Patrick O'Brian" - SUNDAY TELEGRAPH "Highly enjoyable novel. Great story. Thoroughly recommend for lovers of adventure novels." -- ***** Reader review "An amazing author with an extraordinary knowledge and ability to recreate the famous wars of the late 18 and 19th centuries. A really worthwhile read, as indeed is the whole series" -- ***** Reader review ********************************************* Portugal 1826: Newly returned from India, Matthew Hervey joins a party of officers sent to lend support to the Portuguese regent. But the Peninsula is a place redolent with memories. For it was here as a seventeen-year-old cornet that Hervey had his first taste of military action: the French had forced the British army into humiliating retreat until, under the leadership of Sir John Moore, they made a defiant stand at Corunna. As he prepares for battle once more, Hervey finds himself confronting ghosts from his past... Rumours of War is the six book in Allan Mallinson's Matthew Hervey series. His adventures continue in An Act of Courage. Have you read his previous adventures A Close Run Thing, The Nizam's Daughters, A Regimental Affair, A Call to Arms and The Sabre's Edge?
Perfect for fans of Patrick O'Brian, Bernard Cornwell and CS Forester, another breath-taking Matthew Hervey adventure from the pen of THE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLING AUTHOR Allan Mallinson. "Captain Matthew Hervey is as splendid a hero as ever sprang from an author's pen" -- THE TIMES "Hervey's thrilling battles against the vivid backdrop of the developing British Empire make for richly engaging storytelling" -- DAILY MAIL "Highly addictive" -- ***** Reader review "This series just gets better and better" -- ***** Reader review ******************************************************************************************** 1828: Matthew Hervey of the 6th Light Dragoons is urgently summoned to the Cape Colony when he learns that the Zulu warrior King Shaka is about to wage war. Soon Hervey, his old friend Eyre Somervile and their escort of dragoons and mounted rifles are riding north. When they arrive at Shaka's kraal, it quickly becomes apparent that he has slaughtered thousands of his subjects - warriors and women alike. When Shaka is killed by his own people, and the region plunged into civil war, Hervey and his men find themselves in the midst of terrible danger. Yet worse is to come. Separated from his troop, Hervey must lead Shaka's queen across a hostile land where sanctuary has never seemed further away ...
(The Matthew Hervey Adventures: 8): A gripping and heart-stopping military adventure from bestselling author Allan Mallinson that will keep you on the edge of your seat
(The Matthew Hervey Adventures: 8): A gripping and heart-stopping military adventure from bestselling author Allan Mallinson that will keep you on the edge of your seat
THE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLING AUTHOR Allan Mallinson brings us another adrenalin-fuelled, absorbing adventure featuring Matthew Hervey. If you like Patrick O'Brian, Bernard Cornwell and CS Forester, you will love this! "Captain Matthew Hervey is as splendid a hero as ever sprang from an author's pen" -- THE TIMES "A damn fine, rip-roaring read" -- LITERARY REVIEW "The heir to Patrick O'Brian and C. S. Forester" -- OBSERVER "Outstanding storytelling!" -- ***** Reader review "Fab read" -- ***** Reader review ********************************************************* 1827: Matthew Hervey is on the look-out for a new posting. He soon finds one in the Cape Colonies, where there is need of a man to re-organise the local forces, and in particular to form a new company of horse. Accompanied by a captain from the disbanded Royal African Corps, Hervey heads out into the great South African plains and towards the territory of the Zulu and their legendary leader, King Shaka. But it is not till he nears the Umtata River that his fiercest battle really begins. For the Zulus fight like no army he has encountered before. As Hervey and his troops are plunged into battle, death is only a heartbeat away... Company of Spears is the eighth book in Allan Mallinson's Matthew Hervey series. His adventures continue in Man of War. Have you read his previous adventures A Close Run Thing, The Nizam's Daughters, A Regimental Affair, A Call to Arms, The Sabre's Edge, Rumours of War and An Act of Courage?
THE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLING AUTHOR Allan Mallinson brings us another compelling and deeply atmospheric adventure featuring Matthew Hervey. If you like Patrick O'Brian, Bernard Cornwell and CS Forester, you will love this! "Most impressive...Mallinson reinforces his position as a master of narrative military history" -- THE TIMES "As good on the details of the workings of a cavalry regiment in 1820 as ever Patrick O'Brian was on the workings of an 1820 warship" -- SPECTATOR "What a pleasure...concentrating on the battle of Talavera and the investment of Badajoz, both sparklingly described, he plays to his undoubted strengths" - OBSERVER "The atmosphere and authenticity continues to work its spell all the way through." -- ***** Reader review "Highly enjoyable novel. Great story. Thoroughly recommend for lovers of adventure novels." -- ***** Reader review "A truly outstanding read" -- ***** Reader review ********************************************************* Badajoz: Christmas 1826 Matthew Hervey of the 6th Light Dragoons is a prisoner of the Spanish, incarcerated in the infamous fortress of Badajoz. As he plans his escape, his thoughts return to the year 1812 when he was a cornet in Wellington's Peninsular Army. He and the Sixth had survived Corunna to endure three more years of brutal fighting that would culminate in one of the most vital and vicious confrontations of the campaign - the siege of Badajoz. While Hervey paces his prison cell, and re-lives the bloodshed of battles past, friends from unexpected quarters rush to his aid... An Act of Courage is the seventh book in Allan Mallinson's Matthew Hervey series. His adventures continue in Company of Spears. Have you read his previous adventures A Close Run Thing, The Nizam's Daughters, A Regimental Affair, A Call to Arms, The Sabre's Edge and Rumours of War?
A distinguished military historian tells the dramatic story of six defining battles in world history. Every battle is different. Each takes place in a different context—the war, the campaign, the weapons. However, battles across the centuries, whether fought with spears and swords or advanced technology, have much in common. Fighting is, after all, an intensely human affair; human nature doesn't change. So why were certain battles fought as they were? What gave them their shape? Why did they go as they did: victory for one side, defeat for the other? In exploring six significant feats of arms—the war and campaign in which they each occurred, and the factors that determined their precise form and course—The Shape of Battle answers these fundamental questions about the waging of war. Eschewing polemics, The Shape of Battle doesn't try to argue a case. It lets the narratives—the battles—speak for themselves.
In a rousing follow-up to the critically acclaimed A Close Run Thing, Captain Matthew Hervey makes the hazardous sea voyage to India for what the Duke of Wellington has called “deuced tricky work.” As Wellington’s new aide-de-camp, Matthew’s covert mission will embroil him in the jostling of native potentates and England’s encroaching East India Company — both threatened by lawless bands of horsemen bent on plunder and massacre. When Matthew’s journeying leads him to the small key state of Chintal, he thinks himself close to his objective. But at the rajah’s sumptuous court, he discovers that war in India is waged as often with money and spies as with the clear-cut tactics of the battlefield — with battles won through devious conversations and murderous perfidy. And Matthew, torn between his honor and his destiny, is drawn deeper into the court’s serpentine coils than he ever dreamed....
(The Matthew Hervey Adventures: 9): A thrilling and action-packed military adventure from bestselling author Allan Mallinson that will make you feel you are in the midst of the battle
(The Matthew Hervey Adventures: 9): A thrilling and action-packed military adventure from bestselling author Allan Mallinson that will make you feel you are in the midst of the battle
Perfect for fans of Patrick O'Brian, Bernard Cornwell and CS Forester, another engrossing Matthew Hervey adventure from the pen of THE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLING AUTHOR Allan Mallinson. "Hervey's thrilling battles against the vivid backdrop of the developing British Empire make for richly engaging storytelling" -- DAILY MAIL "Captain Matthew Hervey is as splendid a hero as ever sprang from an author's pen" -- THE TIMES "The heir to Patrick O'Brian and C. S. Forester" -- OBSERVER "Absolutely brilliant" -- ***** Reader review "An absolute delight" -- ***** Reader review *********************************************************** 1827: Britain and the Mediterranean Captain Sir Laughton Peto, recently engaged to Matthew Hervey's sister, is sailing his mighty line-of-battle ship towards Navarino Bay, and war with the Turks. Six months on, and Matthew Hervey is in London recovering from another bout of malaria and the wound from his battle with the Zulu. All is set for his marriage to the eminently suitable Lady Lankester, and his return to active duty at the Cape. But trouble lies ahead as familial commitments clash with affairs of the heart and Hervey finds himself embroiled in a military inquiry that could result in public humiliation. As the cataclysmic battle of Navarino Bay looms ever closer for Peto and his crew, Hervey faces a crisis that could change both his life and his military career... Man of War is the ninth book in Allan Mallinson's Matthew Hervey series. His adventures continue in Warrior. Have you read his previous adventures A Close Run Thing, The Nizam's Daughters, A Regimental Affair, A Call to Arms, The Sabre's Edge, Rumours of War, An Act of Courage and A Company of Spears?
Edgehill, 1642: Surveying the disastrous scene in the aftermath of the first battle of the English Civil War, Oliver Cromwell realized that war could no longer be waged in the old, feudal way: there had to be system and discipline, and therefore - eventually - a standing professional army. From the 'New Model Army' of Cromwell's distant vision, former soldier Allan Mallinson shows us the people and events that have shaped the British army we know today. How Marlborough's momentous victory at Blenheim is linked to Wellington's at Waterloo; how the desperate fight at Rorke's Drift in 1879 underpinned the heroism of the airborne forces at Arnhem in 1944; and why Montgomery's momentous victory at El Alamein mattered long after the Second World War was over . . . From the British Army's origins at the battle of Edgehill to the recent conflict in Afghanistan, The Making of the British Army is history at its most relevant - and most dramatic.
Another riveting Matthew Hervey adventure from the Sunday Times bestselling author Allan Mallinson, combining hero, history and drama to perfection. If you like Patrick O'Brian, Bernard Cornwell and CS Forester, this will not disappoint! "Assured and capable...a fine read" - The Times "Matthew Hervey has now joined Bernard Cornwell's Sharpe and Patrick O'Brian's Jack Aubrey" - Birmingham Post "Delighted, as simple as that." - ***** Reader review "Absolutely excellent - cannot recommend this series of books enough to anyone who likes historical fiction." - ***** Reader review *********************************************************************** Canada 1817: Captain Matthew Hervey is suffering the effects of unrest within his beloved regiment, the 6th Light Dragoons. Their new commanding officer - wealthy, arrogant and cruel - has taken an immediate dislike to him. Somehow, Hervey must earn promotion while retaining his integrity and the loyalty of his men. Then the regiment is sent to Canada where, in the aftermath of war with the United States, Hervey faces danger on two fronts. Murderous native tribes are on the move. While, closer to home, he and his commanding officer have embarked on a collision course - the consequences of which will be devastating... Have you read A Close Run Thing and The Nizam's Daughters - the first two Matthew Hervey adventures? A Regimental Affair is the third book in Allan Mallinson's Matthew Hervey series. His adventures continue in A Call to Arms.
Once again, THE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLING AUTHOR Allan Mallinson captivates readers with an eminently readable piece of historical fiction. If you're a fan of Patrick O'Brian, Bernard Cornwell and CS Forester, you'll love this. 'The Matthew Hervey books have a way of getting under your skin...reveals a man who is very much of his time -and one to have beside you when riding into action.' - DAILY MAIL 'One for the fans, who will not be disappointed by Mallinson's winning combination of scrupulous research and derring-do...with the French in front and the Russians behind, Hervey's your man.' - THE TIMES 'Leaves the reader slavering for the next instalment.' -- ***** Reader review 'This is historical fiction at its very best.' -- ***** Reader review 'Such a pleasure to read a well written, well edited, well researched, readable piece of historical fiction.' -- ***** Reader review ****************************************************************** January 1830, and one of the hardest winters in memory... The prime minister, the Iron Duke, is resisting growing calls for parliamentary reform, provoking scenes of violent unrest in the countryside. Against this inflammable backdrop Lieutenant-Colonel Matthew Hervey, recently returned from an assignment in the Balkans, takes command of his regiment, the 6th Light Dragoons. His fears that things might be a little dull are quickly dispelled by the everyday business of vexatious officers, NCOs promotions and incendiarists on the doorstep of the King himself. But it's when the Sixth are sent to Brussels for the fifteenth anniversary celebrations of the battle of Waterloo and find themselves caught up in the Belgian uprising against Dutch rule that the excitement really starts. Will Hervey be able to keep out of the fighting - a war that would lead, nearly a century later, to Britain's involvement in an altogether different war - while safeguarding his country's interests? Not likely!
‘War is too important to be left to the generals’ snapped future French prime minister Georges Clemenceau on learning of yet another bloody and futile offensive on the Western Front. One of the great questions in the ongoing discussions and debate about the First World War is why did winning take so long and exact so appalling a human cost? After all this was a fight that, we were told, would be over by Christmas. Now, in his major new history, Allan Mallinson, former professional soldier and author of the acclaimed 1914: Fight the Good Fight, provides answers that are disturbing as well as controversial, and have a contemporary resonance. He disputes the growing consensus among historians that British generals were not to blame for the losses and setbacks in the ‘war to end all wars’ – that, given the magnitude of their task, they did as well anyone could have. He takes issue with the popular view that the ‘amateur’ opinions on strategy of politicians such as Lloyd George and, especially, Winston Churchill, prolonged the war and increased the death toll. On the contrary, he argues, even before the war began Churchill had a far more realistic, intelligent and humane grasp of strategy than any of the admirals or generals, while very few senior officers – including Sir Douglas Haig – were up to the intellectual challenge of waging war on this scale. And he repudiates the received notion that Churchill’s stature as a wartime prime minister after 1940 owes much to the lessons he learned from his First World War ‘mistakes’ – notably the Dardanelles campaign – maintaining that in fact Churchill’s achievement in the Second World War owes much to the thwarting of his better strategic judgement by the ‘professionals’ in the First – and his determination that this would not be repeated. Mallinson argues that from day one of the war Britain was wrong-footed by absurdly faulty French military doctrine and paid, as a result, an unnecessarily high price in casualties. He shows that Lloyd George understood only too well the catastrophically dysfunctional condition of military policy-making and struggled against the weight of military opposition to fix it. And he asserts that both the British and the French failed to appreciate what the Americans’ contribution to victory could be – and, after the war, to acknowledge fully what it had actually been.
Although only formed in December 1992, The Light Dragoons look back to a history that began in the days of the first Jacobite rebellion. In 1922 a reduction in the Armys strength saw the amalgamation of four regiments of Hussars into the 13th/18th Hussars and the 15th/19th Hussars. Now they too have been amalgamated, with a name that reverts to the titles of the four original regiments in the eighteenth century. Allan Mallinson, the novelist and a former commanding officer of the 13th/18th Hussars, not only follows with admirable clarity and dexterity the fortunes of The Light Dragoons predecessors in this new edition, but describes the activities of the new regiment up to the minute. It is a crowded canvas which reflects much of the last two hundred and seventy years of British history. No campaign of significance has been fought in that time without the participation of one or more of the Regiments. Three, for instance, fought in the Peninsula, one in the Crimea and three in South Africa. In the twentieth century they gained fresh honours in both World Wars and, since 1945, have been fully involved in Britains withdrawal from Empire, the Cold War, United Nations peacekeeping and Iraq and Afghanistan. The new Postscript gives the reader a fine account of what wars in Bosnia and Iraq have involved for the Regiment and the men who serve in it and this updated history is a superb snapshot of life in war and peace for a British armoured reconnaissance regiment. Light Dragoons takes its place among the classics of this genre such as Sir Arthur Bryants Jackets of Green and Rudyard Kiplings account of the Irish Guards in the Great War.
‘No part of the Great War compares in interest with its opening’, wrote Churchill. ‘The measured, silent drawing together of gigantic forces, the uncertainty of their movements and positions, the number of unknown and unknowable facts made the first collision a drama never surpassed...in fact the War was decided in the first twenty days of fighting, and all that happened afterwards consisted in battles which, however formidable and devastating, were but desperate and vain appeals against the decision of fate.’ On of Britain's foremost military historians and defence experts tackles the origins - and the opening first few weeks of fighting - of what would become known as 'the war to end all wars'. Intensely researched and convincingly argued, Allan Mallinson explores and explains the grand strategic shift that occurred in the century before the war, the British Army’s regeneration after its drubbings in its fight against the Boer in South Africa, its almost calamitous experience of the first twenty days’ fighting in Flanders to the point at which the British Expeditionary Force - the 'Old Contemptibles' - took up the spade in the middle of September 1914: for it was then that the war changed from one of rapid and brutal movement into the more familiar vision of trench warfare on Western Front. In this vivid, compelling new history, Malliinson brings his experience as a professional soldier to bear on the circumstances, events, actions and individuals and speculates – tantalizingly – on what might have been...
One of our most distinguished military historians tells the story of six defining battles . . . Every battle is different. Each takes place in a different context - the war, the campaign, the weapons. However, battles across the centuries, whether fought with sticks and stones or advanced technology, have much in common. Fighting is, after all, an intensely human affair; human nature doesn't change. So why were battles fought as they were? What gave them their shape? Why did they go as they did: victory for one side, defeat for the other? In exploring six significant feats of arms - the war and campaign in which they each occurred, and the factors that determined their precise form and course - The Shape of Battle answers these fundamental questions about the waging of war. Hastings (1066) - everyone knows the date, but not, perhaps, the remarkable strategic background. Towton (1461) - the bloodiest battle to be fought on English soil. Waterloo (1815) - more written about in English than any other but rarely in its true context as the culminating battle in the longest war in 'modern' times. D-Day (1944) - a battle within a larger operation ('Overlord'), and the longest-planned and most complex offensive battle in history. Imjin River (1951) - this little known battle of the Korean War was the British Army's last large-scale defensive battle. Operation Panther's Claw (2009) - a battle that has yet to receive the official distinction of being one: an offensive conducted over six weeks with all the trappings of 21st-century warfare yet whose shape and face at times resembled the Middle Ages. The Shape of Battle is not a polemic, it doesn't try to argue a case. It lets the narratives - the battles - speak for themselves.
‘Mallinson . . . combines the authority of a soldier-turned-military historian with the imaginative touch of the historical novelist.’ Lawrence James, THE TIMES We remember months, because months have names, because they are linked to the seasons, and because they have their own character. Looking at the First World War month by month reveals its complexity while preserving a sense of time. From the opening shots to the signing of the armistice, the First World War lasted almost 52 months. It was fought on land, sea and in the air. It became industrial, and unrestricted: poison gas, aerial bombing of cities, and the sinking without warning of merchantmen and passenger ships by submarines. Casualties, military and civilian, probably exceeded 40 million. Four empires collapsed during the course of the war – the German, Austro-Hungarian, Russian and Ottoman. The First World War is almost impossible to comprehend. Day-by-day narratives can be dizzying for the reader wanting to make sense of the conflict as a whole. Freer-flowing accounts, while helping to understand the broader trends and factors, can give less of a sense of the human dimension of time. The month is a more digestible gauge. Based on the Allan Mallinson’s monthly commentaries in The Times throughout the centenary, Fight to the Finish is a new and original portrait of “The War to End War.”
India, 1824- Matthew Hervey and the 6th Light Dragoons are stationed in India, where conflagration looks set to flair. The usurper prince, Durjan Sal, has taken refuge in the infamous fortress of Bhurtpore. A deep ditch, which can be flooded at a moment's notice, runs round it - and as its notorious Tower of Victory - built with the skulls of defeated men - bears witness, it has withstood all attacks made on it. Until now. Hot and dangerous work lies ahead for Matthew Hervey and his courageous troop who know their fortunes will be decided by the sabre's edge.
The eighth novel in the acclaimed and bestselling series finds Hervey on his way to South Africa where he is preparing to form a new body of cavalry, the Cape Mounted Rifles. All looks set fair for Major Matthew Hervey: news of a handsome legacy should allow him to purchase command of his beloved regiment, the 6th Light Dragoons. He is resolved to marry, and rather to his surprise, the object of his affections — the widow of the late Sir Ivo Lankester — has readily consented. But he has reckoned without the opportunism of a fellow officer with ready cash to hand; and before too long, he is on the lookout for a new posting. However, Hervey has always been well-served by old and loyal friends, and Eyre Somervile comes to his aid with the means of promotion: there is need of a man to help reorganize the local forces at the Cape Colony, and in particular to form a new body of horse. At the Cape, Hervey is at once thrown into frontier skirmishes with the Xhosa and Bushmen, but it is Eyre Somervile’s instruction to range deep across the frontier, into the territory of the Zulus, that is his greatest test. Accompanied by the charming, cultured, but dissipated Edward Fairbrother, a black captain from the disbanded Royal African Corps and bastard son of a Jamaican planter, he makes contact with the legendary King Shaka, and thereafter warns Somervile of the danger that the expanding Zulu nation poses to the Cape Colony. T he climax of the novel is the battle of Umtata River (August 1828), in which Hervey has to fight as he has never fought before, and in so doing saves the life of the nephew of one of the Duke of Wellington’s closest friends. From the Hardcover edition.
It's 1819 and the last two years have been tough for Matthew Hervey - his beloved wife is dead and he turned his back on the cavalry regiment. Hervey travels to Rome with his sister and meets one of England's most controversial figures who reminds him of why he joined the Light Dragoons. He rejoins, and is assigned a new troop and horses. They must travel to India and advance through the jungle - unaware that a large number of Burmese warboats are awaiting their arrival...
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