Having killed off Sherlock Holmes, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle began a new series of tales on a very different theme. Brigadier Gerard is an officer in Napoleon's army—ecklessly brave, engagingly openhearted, and unshakable, if not a little absurd, in his devotion to the enigmatic Emperor. The Brigadier's wonderful comic adventures, long established in the affections of Conan Doyle's admirers as second only to those of the incomparable Holmes, are sure to find new devotees among the ardent fans of such writers as Patrick O'Brian and George MacDonald Fraser.

There is no braver officer in Napoleon’s cavalry than étienne Gerard – especially in his own opinion. Whether kidnapped by gangs of brigands or outnumbered by enemy troops, the plucky little soldier is constantly gallant, chivalrous and ready to face any danger, even if he doesn’t always think before he acts. With great gusto Gerard recounts the swashbuckling exploits and adventures of his glittering military career – carrying out secret missions for Napoleon, eluding capture by the Duke of Wellington, making a daring break from an English prison, rescuing ladies in distress, duelling to the death against the dastardly Baron Straubenthal and even saving the day at the Battle of Waterloo.

Arthur Conan Doyle was a British writer best known for his detective fiction featuring the character Sherlock Holmes. His works also include fantasy and science fiction, as well as plays, romances, non-fiction and historical novels. "The Exploits of Brigadier Gerard" and "The Adventures of Gerard" are wonderful collections of historical stories about Brigadier Gerard, an officer in the French Army during the Napoleonic Wars, the bravest soldier, and one of the most gallant lovers in France.

The Complete Brigadier Gerard has the brigadier recounting his adventures in the Peninsular War, the retreat from Moscow and at Waterloo. Flashman's George MacDonald Fraser called the book "A splendid catalogue of secret missions, escapes, love affairs, disguises, duels and occasional disasters." With 55 original illustrations by W.B.Wollen.

Having killed off Sherlock Holmes, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle began a new series of tales on a very different theme. Brigadier Gerard is an officer in Napoleon's army?recklessly brave, engagingly openhearted, and unshakable, if not a little absurd, in his devotion to the enigmatic Emperor. The Brigadier's wonderful comic adventures, long established in the affections of Conan Doyle's admirers as second only to those of the incomparable Holmes, are sure to find new devotees among the ardent fans of such writers as Patrick O'Brian and George MacDonald Fraser.

There is no braver officer in Napoleon’s cavalry than étienne Gerard – especially in his own opinion. Whether kidnapped by gangs of brigands or outnumbered by enemy troops, the plucky little soldier is constantly gallant, chivalrous and ready to face any danger, even if he doesn’t always think before he acts. With great gusto Gerard recounts the swashbuckling exploits and adventures of his glittering military career – carrying out secret missions for Napoleon, eluding capture by the Duke of Wellington, making a daring break from an English prison, rescuing ladies in distress, duelling to the death against the dastardly Baron Straubenthal and even saving the day at the Battle of Waterloo.

You do very well, my friends, to treat me with some little reverence, for in honouring me you are honouring both France and yourselves. It is not merely an old, grey-moustached officer whom you see eating his omelette or draining his glass, but it is a fragment of history. In me you see one of the last of those wonderful men, the men who were veterans when they were yet boys, who learned to use a sword earlier than a razor, and who during a hundred battles had never once let the enemy see the colour of their knapsacks. For twenty years we were teaching Europe how to fight, and even when they had learned their lesson it was only the thermometer, and never the bayonet, which could break the Grand Army down. Berlin, Naples, Vienna, Madrid, Lisbon, Moscow-we stabled our horses in them all. Yes, my friends, I say again that you do well to send your children to me with flowers, for these ears have heard the trumpet calls of France, and these eyes have seen her standards in lands where they may never be seen again. Even now, when I doze in my arm-chair, I can see those great warriors stream before me-the green-jacketed chasseurs, the giant cuirassiers, Poniatowsky's lancers, the white-mantled dragoons, the nodding bearskins of the horse grenadiers. And then there comes the thick, low rattle of the drums, and through wreaths of dust and smoke I see the line of high bonnets, the row of brown faces, the swing and toss of the long, red plumes amid the sloping lines of steel.