[.ca] Seven Men of Gascony (ISBN 0935526978)

Very good for one compendium novel of the period.:
I bought/read this book some years ago, and kept it when moving house, so that means one day I will probably reread it... I remember distinctly the moving history and the well documented background, right it isn't Sharpe, but if Cornwell had made the mistake (a la John Jake's wich at least gives you trilogys...) of passing the whole of the Peninsular War in a single book (thanks God he did'nt, but the whole India episodes could have been from my point of view resumed in a single one!) it woudn't have been so diferent. I agree it's probably not the best of best but definitly not worth a single star ... If a Napoleonic buff you probably will enjoy.

There are many other better choices:
This book started out very slow and was a continual disappointment throughout. The character development is shallow and devoid of insight into the Napoleonic campaigns it addresses. The book provides only superficial glimpses into the life of these men and their comrades. Please exhaust your reading of Cornwell, O'Brien, Pope, Shaara, Mallinson (often overlooked), Forrester and others before you subject yourself to this quagmire of a read. It is unfortunate that we cannot get a better effort from the perspective of the French while there are so many that address this era from the side of the British.

Sweeping Saga of the Grande Armee:
Despite what others have said about this book I have always found it worthwhile. I recently re-read it after many years and still found it to be a sweeping saga of the Napoleanic wars. Perhaps readers are too taken with the more sleek, action packed yarns of today to allow themselves to get into Delderfield's world of the Napoleanic wars. Yes the book starts off a bit slow, and yes its not as action packed as some other historical fiction on the same period. But Delderfield's strength lies in his story-telling, and this book gradually enfolds you into the epic of what was the campaigns of Napolean. After a while you find yourself swept up into the episodic writing of this story which takes its seven Voltiguers on a tour-de-force of Napoelean's battles. The author has a deep love for the period which is reflected in his style of writing. Delderfield is a writer of the old school. His story and characters slowly grow on you if you allow time for it to do so. While I agree with one reader that it would have been nice if some description of the kind of skirmish tactics the French Voltigeurs employed on the battlefield were provided, I didn't find that it detracts from the story that much. This book was written many years ago before the plethora of military historical fiction was available. I'am sure this book served as inspiration for many of the Sharpe novels et al that we see today. C.H. Forester and R.F Delderfield were the fathers of Napoleanic military historical fiction. These works stand up well over time, and since there are few books in English on the French perspective out there this makes "Seven Men" even more important. Give this book time and allow it to enfold you into its sweeping, epic events that were the horror and grandeur of the wars of Napolean.

Entertaining and informative:
I have been a Delderfield fan (female) for 30 years but had not yet read any of his Napoleonic tales. Having recently enjoyed the Hornblower books, and Sharpe and Hornblower video series, I decided to give my library-sale copy a try. I read it on vacation this past week and truly enjoyed it. The story of the seven comrades drew me into the story of the war from a French perspective (moderated, of course, by Delderfield's inherent Britishness). While steering away from melodrama, I would not consider the book at all "plodding," as another reviwer put it. The scenes featuring Napoleon brought on the tingles created by the best of fiction or drama. Recommended.

"Survivor" for the nineteenth century:
This book isn't easy to get into. Delderfield's use of language is somewhat plodding, and there's something indefinably off about the story's pace. Still, for readers who stick with it, this book is worthwhile. It starts out with seven voltigeurs in Napoleon's army, and we know from the prologue that we're going to end up with only one left, but we don't know which one it will be. The process of whittling the characters down to one survivor is long, gruesome and, in its cumulative effect, emotionally moving. Delderfield is at his best in descriptions of camp life and foraging, perhaps not as good at large battle scenes -- I was disappointed to get so little on what the voltigeurs, essentially professional skirmishers, did. I would certainly recommend this for readers with a certain amount of patience.