Overview

An heroic tale from the Battle of Waterloo and the final days of the Napoleonic Wars that introduces an unforgettable new fictional hero in Matthew Hervey of the 6th Light Dragoons... 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.

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"""'Now at last a highly literate, deeply read cavalry officer of high rank shows one the nature of horse-borne warfare in those times: and Colonel Mallinson's A Close Run Thing is very much to be welcomed.'"" Patrick O'Brian ""'As astonishingly impressive debut...Convincingly drawn, perfectly paced and expertly written...A joy to read'"" -- Antony Beevor ""'The scope of A Close Run Thing is quite breathtaking...A sustained piece of bravura writing'"" Observer ""'The account of the Battle of Waterloo is an imaginative feat of high order, owing as much as to thorough scholarship as it does to compassion and sensibility. Brilliantly conveyed.'"" Daily Telegraph ""'Allan Mallinson's grasp of the technical side of his subject is effortless and impressive...The portrayal of the men of all ranks is excellent."" Spectator"

Pompous oafs, a sly heiress, and a beguiling nun prove just as challenging as battlefield perils to a British comet who plays a decisive role in Wellington's defeat of Napoleon. Mallinson, a British cavalry officer with an impressive knowledge of spontoons, snaffles, and other minor arcana of 19th-century combat, offers an extremely detailed, alternatively violent and romantic first novel in a land-based, sword-and-horseflesh companion to Patrick O'Brian's seafaring Aubrey-Maturin series. Hero Matthew Hervey is 23 when we meet him in 1814, one year before Waterloo, on the battlefield in southern France. The highly educated, polyglot son of a parson with vague connections to royalty has just bravely slaughtered a French gunnery patrol, yet has made the mistake of embarrassing a superior officer, General Black Jack Slade. Sister Maria, a gorgeous Carmelite nun who's the daughter of a French count, rebandages Hervey's wounded leg, then entrusts him with her father's ring and a pack of letters to deliver to her ancestral home. With Napoleon abdicating, and the delivery accomplished, Hervey returns to England, where Lady Henrietta Lindsay, an old childhood friend, teases him about matrimony with obscure references to Jane Austen novels. He moves with his regiment to Ireland, where he gets in trouble by defending kindly peasants against corrupt British land agents. Lady Henrietta uses her titled connections to save Hervey from Slade's wrath just in time for the regiment to rush back to the Continent, where Hervey finds himself included in strategy-planning sessions with the stalwart Duke of Wellington, who sends him on a secret mission to contact Prussian forces. After this somewhat wooden, overly chatty adventure, Wellington appoints Hervey as his aide-de-camp, with another mission in store. Some saddle sores from Mallinson's affection for 19th-century turns of phrase, but, on the whole, a rousing, chastely nostalgic tale of valiant heroism and dashing derring-do. (Kirkus Reviews)

The author, himself a distinguished serving soldier and admirer of the late lamented C S Forester and Patrick O'Brian, felt it time that someone raised as much awareness of the 19th-century army - especially the soldiers-on-horseback - as these two writers have for the navy. This, his first novel, is based on his own experience as Commander of the 13th/18th Hussars, as well as on meticulous reserach and scholarship. From the dying days of the Peninsula War to the Battle of Waterloo we follow the fortunes of Matthew Hervey, son of a poor country parson and brilliant soldier, as his expertise, courage and sensitivity take him from lowly cornet with the 6th Light Dragoons to aide-de-camp to the great Wellington himself, following a thrilling account of one of the most legendary battles of all time. Combining astonishingly vivid descriptions of action with subtle analysis of relationships within an army 'riddled with jealousy, snobbery, patronage and intrigue' where preferment comes by purchase rather than just desserts, and fascinating minutiae of daily life both on campaign and in rare moments of relaxation, this is a series worthy to stand beside Mallinson's literary heroes. Written with authority, enthusiasm and real love of the subject, it carries the reader along on a great wave of imagination and erudition. Serious history - and a great yarn. The second volume of the adventures of (now Captain) Hervey: The Nizam's Daughters is available in hardback from Bantam Books. (Kirkus UK)

'Now at last a highly literate, deeply read cavalry officer of high rank shows one the nature of horse-borne warfare in those times: and Colonel Mallinson's A Close Run Thing is very much to be welcomed.' Patrick O'Brian 'As astonishingly impressive debut...Convincingly drawn, perfectly paced and expertly written...A joy to read' -- Antony Beevor 'The scope of A Close Run Thing is quite breathtaking...A sustained piece of bravura writing' Observer 'The account of the Battle of Waterloo is an imaginative feat of high order, owing as much as to thorough scholarship as it does to compassion and sensibility. Brilliantly conveyed.' Daily Telegraph 'Allan Mallinson's grasp of the technical side of his subject is effortless and impressive...The portrayal of the men of all ranks is excellent. Spectator

'I have never read a more enthralling account of a battle... This is the first in a series of Matthew Hervey adventures. The next can't come soon enough for me' Daily Mail

Author Information

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.

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