# Book Review: The Exploits and Adventures of Brigadier Gerard



## Mike Bobbitt (23 Dec 2003)

*The Exploits and Adventures of Brigadier Gerard*
By Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

<A href="http://www.amazon.ca/exec/obidos/ASIN/0940322730/cdnarmyca-20"><img src="https://ssl-images.amazon.com/images/P/0940322730.01.MZZZZZZZ.jpg" border="0" align="right"></a>
Though most commonly known for Sherlock Holmes, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle wrote a great deal of other stories in his day. This book is actually the amalgamation of two books, The Exploits of Brigadier Gerard and The Adventures of Brigadier Gerard and the resulting 18 short stories are (to my dismay) all that Doyle ever produced.

The stories follow Gerard as a young Cavalry Lieutenant in Napoleon‘s Army at the peak of France‘s power through countless escapades and adventures to the fall of the French empire as a Brigadier at Waterloo. Each anecdote is told from the perspective of an elderly Gerard, regaling a crowd of young listeners with his wartime tales.

Written at a time when English and French relations were still strained, Doyle makes Gerard a surprisingly likable (though typically arrogant) character. Gerard is given an ego which he himself cannot see, but through Doyle‘s expert writing, we can‘t help but respect his courage and devotion to duty. Gerard sees himself as debonair, irresistible to women, and, in his own words, "the best swordsman in the six brigades of light cavalry." In following his adventures across Europe, the reader may be hard pressed to refute these claims.

Drawing on the actual memoirs of French Officers for background, Doyle sets out a believable environment for each story, frequently citing details that make you feel as though you are reading a first hand account.

I generally stay away from fiction (Bravo Two Zero excepted) however after reading the first story while travelling I was compelled to find and read the remaining tales.

There are many that feel that Doyle was a "common" writer, sacrificing quality for a wide appeal. While that may be true, the end result is that his stories *do* have a wide appeal, even today.

Overall, I found the stories to be light, entertaining reading. Historians will appreciate the view into Napoleonic times which, though fictional, seems to be mostly accurate. The military minded will enjoy the attention to detail, noting that the rules of basic soldiering haven‘t changed that much in almost 200 years.

ISBN 0940322730

 -->  The Exploits and Adventures of Brigadier Gerard at Amazon.ca
 --> The Adventures of Gerard, full text online *

* This is the 2nd book, and though it can be read out of sequence, I recommend reading Exploits first if you can.


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