Friday 13 January 2012

Fields of Death, Simon Scarrow


Publishers: Headline Review

Pages: 694 (Paperback 2010)

Main Characters:
Napoleon Bonaparte, Arthur Wellesley (Duke of Wellington)


This is the final book in Simon Scarrow’s epic Revolution Quartet. The book follows the end of the rivalry between Napoleon Bonaparte and the Duke of Wellington, heading to the climax of the Battle of Waterloo. Finishing a war that has lasted over twenty years, whilst fulfilling the life time ambition of one of these two great men.
The novel picks up at the end of Fire and Sword and continues the struggle happening in Europe. Whilst Napoleon is falling back after his defeat in Russia, Wellesley is pushing his army up through the Spanish Peninsula and even contemplating the invasion of France itself. I won’t say too much about what happens in this book because I assume that some people may not know what historically happened. However for those of you that do know, the same happens in this book and is portrayed in a brilliant way by Scarrow, describing what both commanders were feeling whilst one leaders Empire was been destroyed and the others ambition of disposing a tyrant were coming true.
This was a good book, the only issue I had with this book is that it seemed every other chapter was a battle, which I felt was becoming a bit repetitive. Of course, Scarrow was portraying his novel in a way which was accurate to what happened in history, and in history there were many battles leading to the downfall of Napoleon. Perhaps it is because I am a historian and knew what the end result was made me think these battles were abit tedious, however for someone who does not know the history, they may enjoy all of the battles. To be fair to Scarrow, they were all well detailed and very exciting, filled with action and gore, but for me I just wanted to get to the end and see the demise of Napoleon.
All in all, this book and the series was brilliant. I am a massive fan of Scarrow and his books have kept me entertained for hours at a time. I would suggest this book and series to anyone who is interested in the Napoleonic era. Great series can’t wait to read Scarrow’s latest book, Praetorian
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