Description
THE YEAR IS 1811…
The Peninsular War, between the British and the French, has been ongoing for three years already and Napoleon Bonaparte is still intent on conquering all of Europe, his great armies cutting a swathe from the Iberian Peninsula to the icy steppes of Russia.
General Sir Arthur Wellesley, Lord Wellington, is in charge of the British army in Portugal. Assisted by Portuguese troops, he needs to enter Spain but his way is blocked by two great fortresses at Ciudad Rodrigo and Badajoz – both occupied by French forces.
To this arena of war come a London pick-pocket and an aristocratic young lady who are destined by Fate to become involved in Wellington’s plans. Adventure, intrigue and romance await them in the Peninsula, together with friendships made and lost. Both Will Tucker and Lady Megan Camberwell find companionship, hardship and courage as they face the dangers and horrors of war together.
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About JM Kearsley
AnneS –
‘To be a Soldier’ is the first novel in a planned trilogy of historical novels set in the Peninsular War of the Napoleonic era. The main theme of the novel (and following books in the trilogy I assume) is the evolving romance between its socially mismatched teenage protagonists, Will Tucker, a former London street urchin, and Lady Megan Camberwell, an adventurous English aristocrat. In ‘To be a Soldier’, for me, this romantic element did not detract from the book’s appeal but rather provided a way for Kearsley to advocate subtly for egalitarianism.
As well as the historical battle action, centred on the British siege of the French-held fortified city of Ciudad Rodrigo, ‘To be a Soldier’ includes plentiful more personal physical conflicts that make for an action-packed read. Other strengths of the book are Kearsley’s well-rounded characters, evocative prose style, period detail and light touches of humour. These aspects extend the book’s likely appeal beyond fans of romance novels and historical Napoleonic fiction to general readers.
I thoroughly enjoyed ‘To be a Soldier’ and keenly await its sequels.
Peter A Griffiths – by email 19-1-2025