A Close Run Thing (The Matthew Hervey Adventures: 1): A high-octane and fast-paced military action adventure guaranteed to have you gripped! (Matthew Hervey, 1) - Softcover

Mallinson, Allan

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0553507133 ISBN 13: 9780553507133

Publisher: Bantam, 2000

Synopsis

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.

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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.

About this title

About the Author

A professional solder for thirty-five years, Allan Mallinson began writing while still serving.
His first book was a history of four regiments of British light dragoons, one of which he commanded. His debut novel was the bestselling A Close Run Thing, the first in an acclaimed series chronicling the life of a fictitious cavalry officer before and after Waterloo (The Tigress of Mysore is the fourteenth in the series). His The Making of the British Army was shortlisted for a number of prizes, while 1914: Fight the Good Fight won the British Army’s ‘Book of the Year’ Award. Its sequel, Too Important for the Generals, is a provocative look at leadership during the Great War, while Fight to the Finish is a comprehensive history of the First World War, month by month.
Allan Mallinson reviews for the Spectator and the TLS and also writes for The Times. He lives on Salisbury Plain.

From the Back Cover

In the tradition of Patrick O'Brian's beloved historical military adventures comes the first in a dashing new series featuring Cornet Matthew Hervey, a young cavalry officer in Wellington's army of 1815. Bringing alive the Napoleonic era and the armies whose blood stained the soil of turbulent nations, here is the story of one man whose valor and vision bring him honor, betrayal, and a challenge beyond his imagining.
For two decades, since the French Revolution, Britain and her allies have fought a seemingly endless war to loosen Bonaparte's stranglehold on Europe. And Englishmen such as Matthew Hervey, led by the "Iron Duke" of Wellington, have left the green pastures of home to follow the drum in His Majesty's cavalry. By 1814 Hervey, a twenty-three-year-old parson's son, has been on campaign with the 6th Light Dragoons for over five years--only to find his military career endangered by an impetuous act of gallantry....
With the French army at last defeated and Bonaparte exiled to Elba, Matthew's regiment is posted home. His return to Horningsham village reacquaints him with the vivacious beauty of Lady Henrietta Lindsay, his childhood sweetheart. But shortly he is called to duty in Ireland, where English landowners can be as pitiless as Bonaparte has been on the Continent, and where rebellion lurks in every hedgerow.
Torn by ambition and ensnared in the intrigues of Wellington's army, Matthew struggles to shape his destiny, but his efforts are about to be cast to the winds of fate. For, back amid the pounding of hooves, the flash of gunpowder, and the clash of sabers, he will find the dramatic fulfillment of his own purpose, himself a catalyst in the battle of thecentury...near the small Belgian village of Waterloo.
Written with stunning authenticity, and sweeping from battleground to country mansion, from French chateau to smoky Irish hovel, A Close Run Thing gilds history with a bold imagination in an unforgettable tale of the fortunes of war and the conflicts of the spirit.

Edition details

• Publisher: Bantam
• Publication date: 2000
• ISBN 10: 0553507133
• ISBN 13: 9780553507133
• Binding: Paperback
• Language: English
• Number of pages: 528