A Call to Arms (Matthew Hervey, Book 4) - Softcover

Mallinson, Allan

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0553813501 ISBN 13: 9780553813500

Publisher: Bantam, 2008

Synopsis

1817 and 1818 have not been good years for Matthew Hervey. His beloved wife Henrietta is dead and he is no longer in the Sixth regiment. Now he is kicking his heels in a corrupt and unruly England far removed from its once glorious past. 1819 sees Hervey in Rome with his sister Elizabeth where a chance meeting with man of letters Percy Bysshe Shelley leads him to rethink his future. Realizing just how much he misses the excitement of military action and the camaraderie of his regiment, Hervey hurriedly purchases a new commission and is refitted for the uniform of the 6th Light Dragoons. Hervey’s most immediate task is to raise a new troop and to organize transport, for his men and horses are to set sail for India with immediate effect.

What Hervey and his greenhorn soldiers cannot know is that in India they will face one of their toughest trials. A large number of Burmese warboats are being assembled near the headwaters of the river leading to Chittagong, and the only way to thwart their advance involves an arduous and hazardous march through jungle territory. What begins as a relatively simple operation becomes a journey into the heart of darkness, as Hervey and his troop find themselves in the midst of hot and bloody action once more.
From the Hardcover edition.

About this title

From the Inside Flap:

Matthew Hervey is recalled to take up arms against Burmese rebels massing on the frontier with India in the fourth installment of his adventures with the Light Dragoons.

The last two years have not been good ones for Matthew Hervey. His beloved wife Henrietta is dead and, believing that he can no longer remain in a regiment where men like Lord Towcester can rise to command, he has turned his back on the 6th Light Dragoons. He is left kicking his heels in a corrupt and unruly England far removed from its once glorious past.

1819 sees Hervey in Rome with his sister Elizabeth, where a chance meeting with one of England's most controversial men of letters leads him to rethink his future. Joined by his old friend Captain Peto, Hervey realizes just how much he has missed the excitement of military action and the camaraderie of the Sixth. Soon he is en route for Hounslow via Whitehall, where he hurriedly purchases a new commission and is refitted for the uniform of his former regiment. There he finds things much changed for the better. Though depleted in numbers, they are now under the assured leadership of Sir Ivo Lankester, brother of Edward Lankester, hero of Waterloo. Hervey's first task is to raise a new troop and then to organize transport, for his men and horses are to set sail for India with immediate effect.

What Hervey and his greenhorn soldiers cannot know is that in India they will face a trial for which they are sorely ill-prepared. For a large number of Burmese warboats are being assembled near the headwaters of the river leading to Chittagong, and the only way to thwart their advance involves an arduous and hazardous march through the jungle. Hervey and his troop find themselves in the midst of hot and bloody action once more.

From the Back Cover:

“Confirms his undoubted talents and marks him as the heir to Patrick O’Brian and C.S. Forester.” – Observer

From the Hardcover edition.

About this edition

• Publisher: Bantam
• Publication date: 2008
• ISBN 10: 0553813501
• ISBN 13: 9780553813500
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 384