Seven Men of Gascony by R.F. Delderfield

The story begins with Gabriel, a young man with artistic inclinations who joins the army before he could be conscripted, shows some talent for marksmanship and is sent to join a company of voltigeurs (sharpshooters, skirmishers) on the banks of the Danube in 1809. “Ah, yes,” mused the Emperor, grasping his riding switch with both hands extended behind his back, ”at Aspern-Essling as well: I saw you in the churchyard.” Jean told him, the old familiar recital – Italy, Egypt, Marengo, Austerlitz, Jena, Eylau and Friedland. “Where did you serve before that?” he asked. Delderfield far surpassed my expectations with the present story not only through the quality of his prose but, more importantly, by changing the focus of the narrative from the generals and politicians to the people on the ground, the grunts who marched from Lisbon to Moscow and back on their feet. Napoleon is probably one of the most controversial and most influential figures of modern history, and an attempt to capture the spirit of this time in a single novel seems like a daunting proposition. He was supposed to have fought in the wars of the Empire, but he never told stories, like some other veterans in the district.ĭelderfield launches a provocation to the reader : is the war to be glorified for its feats of strength and endurance and tactical cunning, or is it be condemned for its brutality and wholesale destruction? And who will be the ones to pass judgement? The victors who want to justify their own cause or the losers who tried and failed in their campaigns. The hand looked like a claw and did nothing to increase his popularity among the children. Two fingers were missing and the remainder were bent over a scarred palm, reddish and unsightly. His right hand had been maimed in some sort of accident. At times he appeared to be crippled with rheumatism and rarely left his room. He had an air of brooding and large, sad eyes.

The local priest is interested in the past, but the old man is unwilling to revisit his own contribution to the Napoleonic Wars.

The date is important: it marks the end of an era, the return of the body of its exiled emperor back to France. History is only important if, by surveying it, we are able to account for the past and shape the future.Ī scarred and grumpy old man lives alone in a small village in France, in December 1840.

Seven Men of Gascony by R.F. Delderfield