Product Description

The first in an ambitious and highly commercial quartet of novels focusing on two giants of European history, Wellington and Napoleon

Europe in the late eighteenth century was a tumultuous place, with war and rebellions breaking out on many fronts. Young Arthur Wesley (later Wellington) and Napoleon Bonaparte grow up worlds apart yet immersed from youth in a culture where a military career is a natural choice for men of ambition. While Wellington is blooded in Ireland and Flanders, Napoleon is caught up in the dramas of the French Revolution and war with Prussia, Britain and Holland. None of this is enough to distract Wellington from his pursuit of Kitty Pakenham or Napoleon from his future bride, Josephine, for these men throw themselves into all aspects of life as enthusiastically as they rush to battle. A wonderful, multi-layered introduction to an epic series.

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Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #9397 in Books
• Published on: 2007-01-11
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 608 pages

Review

'One of the great duels in history, between two of its most fascinating characters. Simon Scarrow brings Wellington and Napoleon to life with a vengeance'

(Paul Strathern, author of Napoleon in Egypt )

'This is a promising start to a series that shows great potential'

(Good Book Guide )

'[YOUNG BLOODS] is well written, researched and a pleasure to read. Recommended'

(Historical Novels Review )

About the Author
Simon Scarrow is the very well-established author of the Roman adventure novels in the Eagle series. He lives outside Norwich with his family.

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Customer Reviews

Accessible History
Experts on Napoleon and Wellington will no doubt sneer at some of the dramatic & factual liberties Simon Scarrow has taken when writing this first volume of a series that will follow the lives and careers of both men. Others may damn the books for the odd anachronism or use of modern terminology. If they do then they miss the point of this book and those that follow it.

This is not meant to be dry, purely factual history. This is dramatic reconstruction, with all that the term implies. Young Bloods is an attempt to bring characters and events to life as real human beings. It is about making history, important, world changing history, accessible to those who would never dream of picking up a non-fiction history book in their life.

In this respect it is a great success. Young Bloods manages to be both informative and entertaining; a combination that can be difficult to achieve. It is even more impressive in this case when taking into consideration the fact that the book has to deal with the men's childhoods and the earliest parts of their careers and features none of their more well known military or political acheivements. Simon Scarrow is to be applauded for what he manages to do here and for shining a light on the more obscure early lives of both men.

He must also be praised for avoiding the traps of turning the life of either man into either a Bernard Cornwell-style tale of derring-do or a dry, factually impeccable yet unenvolving and slow Allan Mallinson-style detail-fest. For the most part avoiding horribly anachronistic behaviour or speech he strikes just the right line, managing to keep events accessible yet also preventing them from becoming too dry or turgid under the weight of factual accuracy.

Of course in order to do so his forced to sacrifice some verisimilitude and depth of character. Certain events also feels a little truncated from time to time, but they are prices worth paying to keep matters moving forward and to hold the reader attention. The fact that as a result of reading this and the books that follow more people are going to know more about both Wellington and Napoleon than simply Waterloo and the Iberian campaign is worth the sometimes prosaic story telling.

So no sneering. If you want minutae and 100% historical accuracy there are numerous bigraphies of both Wellington and Napoleon available. If you want an entertaining, action packed story of two men destined for greatness who just happened to be real, and a great many people do want precisely that, then Young Bloods should definitely be on your reading list.

The start of a great new series
This is a cracking good yarn! Simon Scarrow has taken the known facts about the boyhood and early careers of Wellington and Napoleon and woven a fascinating pair of stories around them. He moves from one to the other and back again in a skilful way, making the reader want to know what comes next but still be happy to catch up with the other man's progress at the same period of his life. He makes both of them come alive for readers, and puts them in their respective settings so we can understand the attitudes to other people - soldiers, commoners and aristocrats - that they showed later in life. He captures the general thinking of the period very well, on both sides of the Channel and in Corsica, to show the influences around both young men and gives us some great action set-pieces to enjoy as well. I can hardly wait for the next book in this series. Highly recommended!

Young Bloods - Exceptional read
With this latest book Simon embarks on a new series, Book 1 is based around the young lives of 2 of the great generals from European history, Napoleon and Wellington.

The story Switches easily between life in aristocratic Ireland and rural Corsica, showing the differences in character and environment that shaped these two great men.

I myself have not read much about these two men and this period in history, except Bernard Cornwells Sharpe. I have found in the past that this can put some readers off, but I promise you it will not hinder your reading of this book. This is a great read with easy flowing writing, well paced and full of action.

The characterisation is brilliant, by the end of the book you have real feelings for these 2 men, and amazingly you find yourself switching between supporting the French and wanting them to win, to rooting for the English with their destructive musket volleys.

I have read all of Simons books to date and have enjoyed all of them immensely, but this is in my opinion his best work to date, I think its because the book starts with the main characters from birth and allows you to grow with them on their road to fame and glory! I especially like the little true stories that crop up throughout the book (I will leave it to you to discover these for your-self).

If you are a fan of Conn Iggulden, Bernard Cornwell, David Gemmell or William Napier then this is a must buy for you. (And don’t forget to try his eagle series as well)