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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.
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 ...
Captain Hervey has returned from India to an England in turmoil. The clamour for parliamentary and economic reform is bringing the country close to revolution. In the 6th Light Dragoons there is a new commanding officer - wealthy, vain, arrogant and cruel.
January 1829: George IV is on the throne, Wellington is England's prime-minister, and snow is falling thickly on the London streets as Lieutenant-Colonel Matthew Hervey is summoned to the Horse Guards in the expectation of command of his regiment, the 6th Light Dragoons. But the benefits of long-term peace at home mean cuts in the army.
‘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 e...
1819 sees Hervey in Rome with his sister Elizabeth where a chance meeting with Percy Bysshe Shelley leads him to rethink his future. Soon he is en route for Hounslow via Whitehall where he hurriedly purchases a new commission and is refitted for the uniform of the 6th Light Dragoons.
"1826: Bonaparte is dead, the Congress of Vienna's work is done and Europe is at peace. However, in Portugal, civil war is in the air following the death of King John VI. Newly returned from India, Matthew Hervey joins a delegation sent to make an assessment and lend support to the Portuguese regent, his place on the expedition having been secured with the help of his new friend, Lady Katherine Greville. But the Iberian Peninsula is redolent with memories for Hervey. For it was here as a young cornet that he first tasted military action. It was when the French had forced the British army into a gruelling and ignominious retreat until, under the leadership of Sir John Moore, they made their defiant stand at Corunna. In the epic battle that followed, Hervey and the Sixth Light Dragoons played their part. As the wave of the French onslaught broke against the solid rock of British resolve, the tide of war was turned once and for all in England's favour. And now, as the Spanish threaten the fortress at Elvas, Hervey makes ready for battle and prepares to confront ghosts from his past ..."--Publisher's description
It is 1827: Britain and the Mediterranean Captain Sir Laughton Peto, engaged to Matthew Hervey's sister, is sailing his line-of-battle ship towards Navarino Bay. All is set fair for Matthew Hervey's marriage to Lady Lankester, and his return to active duty at the Cape. But trouble lies ahead as familial commitments clash with affairs of the heart.
"India, 1816 - Fresh from the field of Waterloo, Matthew Hervey is dispatched on a mission of the utmost secrecy. Leaving behind his fiancee, Lady Henrietta Lindsey, he must journey across tempestuous seas to India, an alien, exotic and beguiling land that will test his mettle to the very limit. For the princely state of Chintal is threatened both by intrigue from within and military might from without, and Hervey - sabre in hand - finds he is once more destined for the field of battle." - Publisher's description.
Lieutenant-Colonel Matthew Hervey returns to take command of the 6th Light Dragoons in his 12th enthralling adventure January 1830, one of the hardest winters in memory. The prime minister, the Duke of Wellington, bruised by his volte-face over Catholic Emancipation, is in no mood to give way to the growing calls for parliamentary reform. Violent unrest in the countryside is on the increase, and violent protest for reform is threatening. There are no police outside London, and most of the yeomanry regiments—the volunteer cavalry to whom the magistrates traditionally turn when disorder threatens—have been disbanded as an economy measure. It is against this tense background Lieutenant-Colo...