Stories of adventures and derring-do featuring the man who is “after Holmes and Watson, Arthur Conan Doyle’s most successful literary creation” (Julian Symons, Edgar Award–winning British crime writer). Originally published in The Strand magazine in the 1890s, the tales of Etienne Gerard, a veteran of the Napoleonic Wars, shows Arthur Conan Doyle at his satiric best. In his own words, Gerard takes readers through his illustrious career, his glorious feats as a lieutenant, squadron officer, colonel, and chief of a brigade. It is a hero’s journey, embarked on by a man known far and wide for his duel with six fencing masters, and who found glory on the battlefield and taught Europe how to fight. Follow Gerard on his exploits as he encounters a man rumored to be the most wicked in Poland in “How the Brigadier Came to the Castle of Gloom.” “How the Brigadier Slew the Brothers of Ajaccio” portrays the very singular affair which propelled his career upwards and established his secret bond with Emperor Napoleon. And Gerard modestly recounts how he cemented his place in history as one of Napoleon’s greatest confidants in “How the Brigadier Was Tempted by the Devil.” “In its pages you will find adventure, action, romance, love and self-sacrifice, hair’s-breadth escape and reckless courage, gallantry, panache and a droll, backhand humor that rivals that of P.G. Wodehouse. You will also find yourself, even more than with the celebrated stories of Holmes and Watson, in the hands of an indisputable artist. For more than any other adventure stories I know, these stories have a power to move the reader.” —Michael Chabon on NPR’s You Must Read This
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