Allan Mallinson

The First World War - Month by Month

Fight to the Finish

In the tradition of Patrick O'Brian's beloved historical military adventures comes the first in a dashing new series featuring Cornet Matthew Hervey, a young cavalry officer in Wellington's army of 1815. A Close Run Thing For two decades, since the French Revolution, England and her allies have fought a seemingly endless war to loosen Bonaparte's stranglehold on Europe. Matthew Hervey, a twenty-three-year-old parson's son, has risen through the ranks of His Majesty's cavalry to a junior command in the 6th Light Dragoons. Torn by ambition and ensnared in the intrigues of Wellington's army, Matthew struggles to shape his destiny, but his efforts are about to be cast to the winds of fate. For amid the clash of armies, he will find himself a catalyst in the battle of the century...near the small Belgian village of Waterloo. From the Trade Paperback edition.

A Close Run Thing

Lieutenant-Colonel Matthew Hervey returns to take command of the 6th Light Dragoons in his 12th enthralling adventure January 1830, one of the hardest winters in memory. The prime minister, the Duke of Wellington, bruised by his volte-face over Catholic Emancipation, is in no mood to give way to the growing calls for parliamentary reform. Violent unrest in the countryside is on the increase, and violent protest for reform is threatening. There are no police outside London, and most of the yeomanry regiments—the volunteer cavalry to whom the magistrates traditionally turn when disorder threatens—have been disbanded as an economy measure. It is against this tense background Lieutenant-Colonel Matthew Hervey, recently returned from his assignment with the Russian army in the Balkans, takes command of his regiment, the 6th Light Dragoons—at Hounslow. His fears that Hounslow will be a dull place to serve are quickly dispelled by vexatious officers, difficult choices over which NCOs to promote, and incendiarists on the King’s own doorstep. But the real excitement comes when the Sixth are sent to Brussels for the 15th anniversary celebrations of the battle of Waterloo, and find themselves in the middle of the Belgian uprising against Dutch rule. Will Hervey be able to keep out of the fighting—the "Belgian War of Independence" that will lead, a century later, to Britain’s involvement in World War I—while trying to safeguard British interests? Not likely!

Words of Command

Another riveting Matthew Hervey adventure from the Sunday Times bestselling author Allan Mallinson, combining hero, history and drama to perfection. If you like Patrick O'Brian, Bernard Cornwell and CS Forester, this will not disappoint! "Assured and capable...a fine read" - The Times "Matthew Hervey has now joined Bernard Cornwell's Sharpe and Patrick O'Brian's Jack Aubrey" - Birmingham Post "Delighted, as simple as that." - ***** Reader review "Absolutely excellent - cannot recommend this series of books enough to anyone who likes historical fiction." - ***** Reader review *********************************************************************** Canada 1817: Captain Matthew Hervey is suffering the effects of unrest within his beloved regiment, the 6th Light Dragoons. Their new commanding officer - wealthy, arrogant and cruel - has taken an immediate dislike to him. Somehow, Hervey must earn promotion while retaining his integrity and the loyalty of his men. Then the regiment is sent to Canada where, in the aftermath of war with the United States, Hervey faces danger on two fronts. Murderous native tribes are on the move. While, closer to home, he and his commanding officer have embarked on a collision course - the consequences of which will be devastating... Have you read A Close Run Thing and The Nizam's Daughters - the first two Matthew Hervey adventures? A Regimental Affair is the third book in Allan Mallinson's Matthew Hervey series. His adventures continue in A Call to Arms.

(The Matthew Hervey Adventures: 3): A gripping and action-packed military adventure from bestselling author Allan Mallinson

A Regimental Affair

Once again, THE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLING AUTHOR Allan Mallinson captivates readers with an eminently readable piece of historical fiction. If you're a fan of Patrick O'Brian, Bernard Cornwell and CS Forester, you'll love this. 'The Matthew Hervey books have a way of getting under your skin...reveals a man who is very much of his time -and one to have beside you when riding into action.' - DAILY MAIL 'One for the fans, who will not be disappointed by Mallinson's winning combination of scrupulous research and derring-do...with the French in front and the Russians behind, Hervey's your man.' - THE TIMES 'Leaves the reader slavering for the next instalment.' -- ***** Reader review 'This is historical fiction at its very best.' -- ***** Reader review 'Such a pleasure to read a well written, well edited, well researched, readable piece of historical fiction.' -- ***** Reader review ****************************************************************** January 1830, and one of the hardest winters in memory... The prime minister, the Iron Duke, is resisting growing calls for parliamentary reform, provoking scenes of violent unrest in the countryside. Against this inflammable backdrop Lieutenant-Colonel Matthew Hervey, recently returned from an assignment in the Balkans, takes command of his regiment, the 6th Light Dragoons. His fears that things might be a little dull are quickly dispelled by the everyday business of vexatious officers, NCOs promotions and incendiarists on the doorstep of the King himself. But it's when the Sixth are sent to Brussels for the fifteenth anniversary celebrations of the battle of Waterloo and find themselves caught up in the Belgian uprising against Dutch rule that the excitement really starts. Will Hervey be able to keep out of the fighting - a war that would lead, nearly a century later, to Britain's involvement in an altogether different war - while safeguarding his country's interests? Not likely!

Words of Command (Hervey 12)

‘Mallinson . . . combines the authority of a soldier-turned-military historian with the imaginative touch of the historical novelist.’ Lawrence James, THE TIMES We remember months, because months have names, because they are linked to the seasons, and because they have their own character. Looking at the First World War month by month reveals its complexity while preserving a sense of time. From the opening shots to the signing of the armistice, the First World War lasted almost 52 months. It was fought on land, sea and in the air. It became industrial, and unrestricted: poison gas, aerial bombing of cities, and the sinking without warning of merchantmen and passenger ships by submarines. Casualties, military and civilian, probably exceeded 40 million. Four empires collapsed during the course of the war – the German, Austro-Hungarian, Russian and Ottoman. The First World War is almost impossible to comprehend. Day-by-day narratives can be dizzying for the reader wanting to make sense of the conflict as a whole. Freer-flowing accounts, while helping to understand the broader trends and factors, can give less of a sense of the human dimension of time. The month is a more digestible gauge. Based on the Allan Mallinson’s monthly commentaries in The Times throughout the centenary, Fight to the Finish is a new and original portrait of “The War to End War.”

Perfect for fans of Patrick O'Brian, Bernard Cornwell and CS Forester, another breath-taking Matthew Hervey adventure from the pen of THE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLING AUTHOR Allan Mallinson. "Captain Matthew Hervey is as splendid a hero as ever sprang from an author's pen" -- THE TIMES "Hervey's thrilling battles against the vivid backdrop of the developing British Empire make for richly engaging storytelling" -- DAILY MAIL "Highly addictive" -- ***** Reader review "This series just gets better and better" -- ***** Reader review ******************************************************************************************** 1828: Matthew Hervey of the 6th Light Dragoons is urgently summoned to the Cape Colony when he learns that the Zulu warrior King Shaka is about to wage war. Soon Hervey, his old friend Eyre Somervile and their escort of dragoons and mounted rifles are riding north. When they arrive at Shaka's kraal, it quickly becomes apparent that he has slaughtered thousands of his subjects - warriors and women alike. When Shaka is killed by his own people, and the region plunged into civil war, Hervey and his men find themselves in the midst of terrible danger. Yet worse is to come. Separated from his troop, Hervey must lead Shaka's queen across a hostile land where sanctuary has never seemed further away ...

(The Matthew Hervey Adventures: 10): A gripping and action-packed military page-turner from bestselling author Allan Mallinson

Warrior

The Sunday Times bestselling author Allan Mallinson, brings us another action-packed and stirring Matthew Hervey adventure. If you like Patrick O'Brian, Bernard Cornwell and CS Forester, this will not disappoint! "A thoroughly satisfying and entertaining read" - THE TIMES "Matthew Hervey has now joined Bernard Cornwell's Sharpe and Patrick O'Brian's Jack Aubrey" - Birmingham Post "After just half-a-dozen pages I was hooked." -- ***** Reader review "An excellent book, when you start reading you cannot put it down. Allan Mallinson at his best!!!" -- ***** Reader review "Essential reading for military buffs" -- ***** Reader review ********************************************************************** India 1819: Matthew Hervey is charged with raising a new troop, and organising transport for India - for he, his men and their horses are to set sail with immediate effect. What Hervey and his soldiers cannot know is that in India they will face a trial for which they are woefully under prepared. A large number of Burmese war-boats are assembled near Chittagong, and the only way to thwart their advance involves a hazardous march through the jungle. Soon Hervey and his troop are in the midst of hot and bloody action once again... A Call To Arms is the fourth book in Allan Mallinson's Matthew Hervey series. His adventures continue in The Sabre's Edge. Have you read his previous adventures A Close Run Thing, The Nizam's Daughters and A Regimental Affair?

(The Matthew Hervey Adventures: 4): A rip-roaring and fast-paced military adventure from bestselling author Allan Mallinson

A Call To Arms

Another riveting Matthew Hervey adventure from the Sunday Times bestselling author Allan Mallinson, combining hero, history and drama to perfection. If you like Patrick O'Brian and Sharpe, you'll love this! "A marvellous read, paced like a well-balanced symphony ... This is more than a ripping yarn..." - The Times "This is an engaging work...The attention to detail is admirable" -- Daily Express "I strongly recommend this book (and the series) to any lover of this genre. FIVE STARS" - ***** Reader review. ************************************************************************* 1816: Fresh from the field at Waterloo, and leaving behind his fiancée Lady Henrietta Lindsey, Matthew Hervey is dispatched to India on a secret mission. The state of Chintal is threatened by both intrigue from within and military might from without. Hervey finds he is once more destined for the battlefield. In a land at once alien, exotic and beguiling, Matthew Hervey's mettle will be tested to the limit... Have you read A Close Run Thing - the first Matthew Hervey adventure? The Nizam's Daughters is the second book in Allan Mallinson's Matthew Hervey series. His adventures continue in A Regimental Affair.

A rip-roaring and riveting military adventure from bestselling author Allan Mallinson.

The Nizam's Daughters (The Matthew Hervey Adventures: 2)

Perfect for fans of Patrick O'Brian, Bernard Cornwell and CS Forester, another engrossing Matthew Hervey adventure from the pen of THE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLING AUTHOR Allan Mallinson. "Captain Matthew Hervey is as splendid a hero as ever sprang from an author's pen." -- THE TIMES "I enjoyed the adventure immensely...As compelling, vivid and plausible as any war novel I've ever read" -- DAILY TELEGRAPH "With this intelligent but pacy book, Brigadier Mallinson stays well on course to be regarded as the landlubbers' Patrick O'Brian" - SUNDAY TELEGRAPH "Highly enjoyable novel. Great story. Thoroughly recommend for lovers of adventure novels." -- ***** Reader review "An amazing author with an extraordinary knowledge and ability to recreate the famous wars of the late 18 and 19th centuries. A really worthwhile read, as indeed is the whole series" -- ***** Reader review ********************************************* Portugal 1826: Newly returned from India, Matthew Hervey joins a party of officers sent to lend support to the Portuguese regent. But the Peninsula is a place redolent with memories. For it was here as a seventeen-year-old cornet that Hervey had his first taste of military action: the French had forced the British army into humiliating retreat until, under the leadership of Sir John Moore, they made a defiant stand at Corunna. As he prepares for battle once more, Hervey finds himself confronting ghosts from his past... Rumours of War is the six book in Allan Mallinson's Matthew Hervey series. His adventures continue in An Act of Courage. Have you read his previous adventures A Close Run Thing, The Nizam's Daughters, A Regimental Affair, A Call to Arms and The Sabre's Edge?

(The Matthew Hervey Adventures: 6): An action-packed and captivating military adventure from bestselling author Allan Mallinson

Rumours Of War

THE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLING AUTHOR Allan Mallinson brings us another compelling and deeply atmospheric adventure featuring Matthew Hervey. If you like Patrick O'Brian, Bernard Cornwell and CS Forester, you will love this! "Most impressive...Mallinson reinforces his position as a master of narrative military history" -- THE TIMES "As good on the details of the workings of a cavalry regiment in 1820 as ever Patrick O'Brian was on the workings of an 1820 warship" -- SPECTATOR "What a pleasure...concentrating on the battle of Talavera and the investment of Badajoz, both sparklingly described, he plays to his undoubted strengths" - OBSERVER "The atmosphere and authenticity continues to work its spell all the way through." -- ***** Reader review "Highly enjoyable novel. Great story. Thoroughly recommend for lovers of adventure novels." -- ***** Reader review "A truly outstanding read" -- ***** Reader review ********************************************************* Badajoz: Christmas 1826 Matthew Hervey of the 6th Light Dragoons is a prisoner of the Spanish, incarcerated in the infamous fortress of Badajoz. As he plans his escape, his thoughts return to the year 1812 when he was a cornet in Wellington's Peninsular Army. He and the Sixth had survived Corunna to endure three more years of brutal fighting that would culminate in one of the most vital and vicious confrontations of the campaign - the siege of Badajoz. While Hervey paces his prison cell, and re-lives the bloodshed of battles past, friends from unexpected quarters rush to his aid... An Act of Courage is the seventh book in Allan Mallinson's Matthew Hervey series. His adventures continue in Company of Spears. Have you read his previous adventures A Close Run Thing, The Nizam's Daughters, A Regimental Affair, A Call to Arms, The Sabre's Edge and Rumours of War?

(The Matthew Hervey Adventures: 7): A compelling and unputdownable military adventure from bestselling author Allan Mallinson

An Act Of Courage

Although only formed in December 1992, The Light Dragoons look back to a history that began in the days of the first Jacobite rebellion. In 1922 a reduction in the Armys strength saw the amalgamation of four regiments of Hussars into the 13th/18th Hussars and the 15th/19th Hussars. Now they too have been amalgamated, with a name that reverts to the titles of the four original regiments in the eighteenth century. Allan Mallinson, the novelist and a former commanding officer of the 13th/18th Hussars, not only follows with admirable clarity and dexterity the fortunes of The Light Dragoons predecessors in this new edition, but describes the activities of the new regiment up to the minute. It is a crowded canvas which reflects much of the last two hundred and seventy years of British history. No campaign of significance has been fought in that time without the participation of one or more of the Regiments. Three, for instance, fought in the Peninsula, one in the Crimea and three in South Africa.In the twentieth century they gained fresh honours in both World Wars and, since 1945, have been fully involved in Britains withdrawal from Empire, the Cold War, United Nations peacekeeping and Iraq and Afghanistan.The new Postscript gives the reader a fine account of what wars in Bosnia and Iraq have involved for the Regiment and the men who serve in it and this updated history is a superb snapshot of life in war and peace for a British armoured reconnaissance regiment. Light Dragoons takes its place among the classics of this genre such as Sir Arthur Bryants Jackets of Green and Rudyard Kiplings account of the Irish Guards in the Great War.

The Making of a Regiment

Light Dragoons

Following their successful invasion of Coorg in order to remove the state's deranged rajah, Lieutenant-Colonel Matthew Hervey is looking forward to a few months' respite for his regiment, the 6th Light Dragoons, and his family. Indeed, with his stock standing high throughout British India, he has rarely counted himself so content. But it is not to last. Lord William Bentinck, the governor-general believes that Hervey is just the man to form and lead a force of suppression against the 'thuggee' criminals who threaten the stability of both the East India Company's domains and a number of friendly princely states. And so Hervey and the Sixth embark on a campaign that will prove to be infinitely complex and very bloody - and put Hervey's own family in very real danger. Brilliantly researched, beautifully written and wholly engaging, The Tigress of Mysore is set against the backdrop of an India in transition as Allan Mallinson's series hero unwittingly takes his first steps on the tumultuous road that will ultimately lead to the Indian Mutiny . . .

The Tigress of Mysore

‘War is too important to be left to the generals’ snapped future French prime minister Georges Clemenceau on learning of yet another bloody and futile offensive on the Western Front. One of the great questions in the ongoing discussions and debate about the First World War is why did winning take so long and exact so appalling a human cost? After all this was a fight that, we were told, would be over by Christmas. Now, in his major new history, Allan Mallinson, former professional soldier and author of the acclaimed 1914: Fight the Good Fight, provides answers that are disturbing as well as controversial, and have a contemporary resonance. He disputes the growing consensus among historians that British generals were not to blame for the losses and setbacks in the ‘war to end all wars’ – that, given the magnitude of their task, they did as well anyone could have. He takes issue with the popular view that the ‘amateur’ opinions on strategy of politicians such as Lloyd George and, especially, Winston Churchill, prolonged the war and increased the death toll. On the contrary, he argues, even before the war began Churchill had a far more realistic, intelligent and humane grasp of strategy than any of the admirals or generals, while very few senior officers – including Sir Douglas Haig – were up to the intellectual challenge of waging war on this scale. And he repudiates the received notion that Churchill’s stature as a wartime prime minister after 1940 owes much to the lessons he learned from his First World War ‘mistakes’ – notably the Dardanelles campaign – maintaining that in fact Churchill’s achievement in the Second World War owes much to the thwarting of his better strategic judgement by the ‘professionals’ in the First – and his determination that this would not be repeated. Mallinson argues that from day one of the war Britain was wrong-footed by absurdly faulty French military doctrine and paid, as a result, an unnecessarily high price in casualties. He shows that Lloyd George understood only too well the catastrophically dysfunctional condition of military policy-making and struggled against the weight of military opposition to fix it. And he asserts that both the British and the French failed to appreciate what the Americans’ contribution to victory could be – and, after the war, to acknowledge fully what it had actually been.

Losing and Winning the First World War

Too Important for the Generals

One of our most distinguished military historians tells the story of six defining battles . . . Every battle is different. Each takes place in a different context - the war, the campaign, the weapons. However, battles across the centuries, whether fought with sticks and stones or advanced technology, have much in common. Fighting is, after all, an intensely human affair; human nature doesn't change. So why were battles fought as they were? What gave them their shape? Why did they go as they did: victory for one side, defeat for the other? In exploring six significant feats of arms - the war and campaign in which they each occurred, and the factors that determined their precise form and course - The Shape of Battle answers these fundamental questions about the waging of war. Hastings (1066) - everyone knows the date, but not, perhaps, the remarkable strategic background. Towton (1461) - the bloodiest battle to be fought on English soil. Waterloo (1815) - more written about in English than any other but rarely in its true context as the culminating battle in the longest war in 'modern' times. D-Day (1944) - a battle within a larger operation ('Overlord'), and the longest-planned and most complex offensive battle in history. Imjin River (1951) - this little known battle of the Korean War was the British Army's last large-scale defensive battle. Operation Panther's Claw (2009) - a battle that has yet to receive the official distinction of being one: an offensive conducted over six weeks with all the trappings of 21st-century warfare yet whose shape and face at times resembled the Middle Ages. The Shape of Battle is not a polemic, it doesn't try to argue a case. It lets the narratives - the battles - speak for themselves.

Six Campaigns from Hastings to Helmand

The Shape of Battle

Edgehill, 1642: Surveying the disastrous scene in the aftermath of the first battle of the English Civil War, Oliver Cromwell realized that war could no longer be waged in the old, feudal way: there had to be system and discipline, and therefore - eventually - a standing professional army. From the 'New Model Army' of Cromwell's distant vision, former soldier Allan Mallinson shows us the people and events that have shaped the British army we know today. How Marlborough's momentous victory at Blenheim is linked to Wellington's at Waterloo; how the desperate fight at Rorke's Drift in 1879 underpinned the heroism of the airborne forces at Arnhem in 1944; and why Montgomery's momentous victory at El Alamein mattered long after the Second World War was over . . . From the British Army's origins at the battle of Edgehill to the recent conflict in Afghanistan, The Making of the British Army is history at its most relevant - and most dramatic.

The Making Of The British Army

A distinguished military historian tells the dramatic story of six defining battles in world history. Every battle is different. Each takes place in a different context—the war, the campaign, the weapons. However, battles across the centuries, whether fought with spears and swords or advanced technology, have much in common. Fighting is, after all, an intensely human affair; human nature doesn't change. So why were certain battles fought as they were? What gave them their shape? Why did they go as they did: victory for one side, defeat for the other? In exploring six significant feats of arms—the war and campaign in which they each occurred, and the factors that determined their precise form and course—The Shape of Battle answers these fundamental questions about the waging of war. Eschewing polemics, The Shape of Battle doesn't try to argue a case. It lets the narratives—the battles—speak for themselves.

The Art of War from the Battle of Hastings to D-Day and Beyond

Perfect for fans of Patrick O'Brian, Bernard Cornwell and CS Forester, another captivating Matthew Hervey adventure from the pen of THE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLING AUTHOR Allan Mallinson. "Allan Mallinson...has done for the British Army what C. S. Forester and Patrick O'Brian did for the Royal Navy, and his novels are every bit as addictive...Splendid, irresistible stuff" -- ALLAN MASSIE, SPECTATOR "A fascinating, lively romp" - THE TIMES "With each successive novel, Mallinson grows in stature as an author; one looks forward eagerly to the next instalment of Hervey's life." -- LONDON EVENING STANDARD "Another great book from a brilliant author" -- ***** Reader review "Magnificent!" -- ***** Reader review "This is a must series to follow" -- ***** Reader review ****************************************************************** January 1829: George IV is on the throne, Wellington is England's prime-minister, and the population has been enjoying long-term peace. But this happy state of affairs means cuts in the army, and Hervey is told that his regiment, the Sixth, are to be reduced to a single squadron. With his long-term plans in disarray, he undertakes instead a six-month assignment as an observer with the Russian army. Soon Hervey, his friend Edward Fairbrother and his faithful groom, Private Johnson, are sailing north to St Petersburg, and from there to the Eastern Balkans, and the ferocious war between Russia and the Ottoman Empire. Hervey is meant to be an impartial spectator, but soon the circumstances - and his own nature - propel him into a more active role. In the climactic Battle of Kulewtscha, Hervey and Fairbrother find themselves in the thick of the action. For Matthew Hervey, the stakes have never been higher - or more personal.

(The Matthew Hervey Adventures: 11): A tense, fast-paced unputdownable military page-turner from bestselling author Allan Mallinson

On His Majesty's Service

"The year is 1829 and Lieutenant-Colonel Matthew Hervey has been promised command of his regiment, the 6th Light Dragoons. Before he can take up his post, however, there is a six-month assignment as an observer with the Russian army, an undertaking at the personal request of the commander-in-chief which Hervey feels obliged to fulfil. Soon Hervey, his friend Edward Fairbrother and his faithful groom, Private Johnson, are sailing north to St Petersburg, and from there on to the Eastern Balkans which are seething with unrest as Russian faces Turk. Hervey imagines he is to spend six months as an impartial spectator in the campaign, but soon the circumstances - and his own nature - propel him into a more active role. In the climactic Battle of Kulewtscha, in which more troops were engaged than in any battle in Europe since Waterloo, Hervey and Fairbrother find themselves in the teeth of the action. For Hervey in particular the stakes have never been higher or more personal "

Allan Mallinson

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