Synopses & Reviews
ALLAN MALLINSONS
A Close Run Thing and
Honorable Company stirred readers and critics with the military adventures of young Captain Matthew Hervey at the Battle of Waterloo and amid the harsh terrain and treacherous intrigues of India. Now, in 1817, Hervey returns to an England whose hard-won peace is shaken by the distress and discord of its people. And even as he is caught up in the turbulent dawn of a new era, he must combat a deliberate attempt to orchestrate his own ruin.
The honors he won in India fell short of Captain Matthew Herveys deepest desire-to return to his beloved 6th Light Dragoons. But now circumstances allow him to resume command of the unit-and to marry the beautiful Lady Henrietta Lindsay, whom he has loved since childhood. Meanwhile, however, his soldiers heart is pierced by the sight of men in British scarlet crippled in the service of king and country, now forgotten and cast off, reduced to begging and petty crime. It is no wonder that rabble-rousers clamor for reform and that lawlessness is erupting everywhere, from the cities to the countryside.
As for Herveys own cavalry, guarding Regency Brighton and ambushing French smugglers in midnight coves, he finds them, too, vastly changed. Their new lieutenant colonel, Lord Towcester, is a cold-eyed martinet-vain, inept, and bigoted-who cares less for the welfare of his men than for keeping the shine on their gleaming brass buttons. Moreover, it soon becomes clear that he will stop at nothing to bring about Herveys disgrace and downfall. For in this young officer, a war hero and former aide-de-camp to the Duke of Wellington, Towcester sees all that he himself once forfeited through cowardice.
But the scandal that haunts Towcester is an old and secret one and to expose it would cost Hervey his rank, the command of his beloved Sixth-and the means to support his radiant, passionate bride. Even the charming and determined Henrietta, not above a little politicking in high places to right wrongs, is unable to diplomatically put a stop to Towcesters vendetta.
As the Industrial Revolution builds and food riots give way to rioting Luddite mobs, Herveys troop is posted to counter the threat of a general insurrection. But his field tactics and peacekeeping vision are jeopardized by enemies both within and without. And then fate calls his regiment to the dark frozen wastes of a distant frontier, where another peoples way of life is being destroyed by the march of change, and where tragedy and bloodshed will force a showdown between Hervey and his nemesis.
A Regimental Affair is a stunning tapestry of vivid characters, rousing action, and authentic historical detail that re-creates a world of polite English drawing rooms, poverty-stricken London streets, and frozen battlefields, where human passion and blind fate give birth to the destiny of a nation-and a hero.
From the Hardcover edition.
Synopsis
The year is 1817, and Captain Matthew Hervey--hero of the critically acclaimed Honorable Company and A Close Run Thing--has returned from India to an England in turmoil. The clamor for parliamentary and economic reform is bringing the country close to revolution. There is no professional constabulary, and the onerous task of policing falls increasingly to the army, especially the cavalry. Hervey's personal life too is about to change as he embarks on marriage to Lady Henrietta Lindsay--a relationship that will profoundly shape his future. But storm clouds are gathering. The new commanding officer of the Sixth has a dark secret, and his dislike of Hervey is immediate and intense. Although Hervey does not know it, both are set on a collision course, which will end in Canada and Michigan, and the consequences will be devastating.
About the Author
Allan Mallinson is a serving cavalry officer in the British army and the author of
Light Dragoons, a history of British cavalry. He lives with his wife and two daughters in Rome, where he is military attache.
From the Hardcover edition.