Review: The Last Kingdom

March 30, 2016March 29, 2016 / rtrube54 / 1 Comment

The Last Kingdom, Bernard Cornwell. New York: Harper C0llins, 2006.

Summary: This first of the Saxon tales tells the story of the invasion of England by the Danes and the fierce resistance led by Alfred the Great, all through the eyes of a boy turned warrior who at different times fights first for the Danes, then for Alfred.

Uhtred, son of Uhtred, Earl of Bebbanburg witnesses the coming of the Danes, the death of his brother and father and is taken captive by Ragnar, who led the Danes in the victories resulting in these deaths. He loses Bebbanburg to a rival who bows to the Danes, and he himself is raised as Ragnar’s more or less adopted son, learning from an early age the deadly arts of war, the fearsome thing known as the shield wall, and the strange joy of battle.

Uhtred matures as he witnesses one kingdom after another within England fall to the forces of the Danes. He repudiates the Christianity of the youth for the pagan warrior gods of the Danes. And the gods seem to favor them until they encounter Alfred, King of Wessex who is sufficiently successful to win a truce for a time. Uhtred and Brida, another captive, who becomes his lover and constant companion settle down in the beautiful country while they await the next attempt to defeat Alfred, little aware of the treachery of Kjartan, who is plotting against Ragnar, and indeed Uhtred himself. Uhtred and Brida alone escape a slaughter, which sends them to seek shelter, first with English relatives, and then in Alfred’s court, to fight for Alfred against the Danes, and to harbor the hope of recovery Bebbanburg one day.

Cornwell not only captures the fearsome character of warfare at the shield wall, where it is kill or be killed, in brutal combat. He also captures the beauty of the land, which the Danes wished to gain and the Anglo-Saxons wished to hold. And he sketches a portrait of Alfred, who genuinely fears God yet struggles to rein in his lusts, who is tormented by intestinal disorders and hemorrhoids, and yet can inspire men to fight and resist and entertains a vision of not only holding Wessex, but of extending his rule throughout England, even in the face of the Danes.

In the concluding part of the book things come to a head as Uhtred must face those he once fought with, as he fights now under Alfred, and as a confrontation looms that could destroy the last kingdom of the Anglo-Saxons. Cornwell brings this history to life, and as he does so, helps us understand why this was fought-over land. While doing so, he draws characters, both real and fictional who evoke strong emotions of affection or disdain, but never “just another Dane or Saxon.”

Having thoroughly enjoyed his Agincourt last fall and the first of these tales, I think I just might go on and read some more!

Review: The Eighth Champion of Christendom

April 6, 2015April 6, 2015 / rtrube54 / 2 Comments

Summary: A historical novel set at the beginning of World War Two exploring the growing realization of the horror of war that “heroic warriors” face. The plot centers around Jim Bennison, an English soldier and Miriam Lozelle, a Jewish refuge farm holder in Boissy whose husband is away at war.

Edith Pargeter’s* title is an allusion to traditional folklore of Seven Champions of Christendom–Saints George, Andrew, Patrick, Denis, James Boanerges, Anthony the Lesser, and David. All were heroic warriors and popularized in the 1596 Famous Historie of the Seaven Champions of Christendom by Richard Johnson.

Pargeter’s historical novel is set in the early days of England’s involvement in World War II. Jim Bennison comes from the quiet village of Morwen Hoe. His greatest dream before war was to marry Delia, who tended bar at a local pub. When called up he and the other young men evidence a mix of bravado and a workmanlike, “let’s get this done.” Little do they know, like young warriors in most wars, what they will face when the blitzkrieg flattens Belgium to the English left, and destroys the French will to fight on their right.

But before all this, Jim and his men are quartered on a farm in the Artois region and the town of Boissy. The woman who runs the farm while her husband fights for France is a Jewish Czech emigre, Miriam Lozelle. A bond is formed when Jim rescues her dog when she strays onto the firing range. Jim wants to come to grips with the enemy. Miriam, who has already faced the Germans in Czechoslovakia, sees further into ugly nature of war. At one point she says to the village priest:

“They believe they know the worst man can do to them, and are armed against it. They know nothing, nothing at all. And we let them go out to be dirtied, and broken, and stripped, and flayed” (p. 84).

This is indeed what happens to Jim as his unit first resists the German onslaught, seeing them butcher civilians. They then head south, ending up near Artois. Only Jim and his close friend Tommy survive, and end up taking shelter at Miriam Lozelle’s bombed out farmhouse while recovering from wounds and illness. Miriam and the French underground, at great risk to themselves as a sinister Gestapo agent stalks Miriam, succeed in helping them escape. Once again, we are drawn to consider, through Jim’s eyes, this heroic woman:

“Until then he had felt no fear, only a sort of excitement that gripped him by the pit of the stomach when he tried to think ahead; but suddenly his mind made strange contact with Miriam’s mind, and he was afraid. It was all the stranger because she was not afraid, unless perhaps for them; for herself she had finished with hoping and fearing. She lived as she must, acting according to her nature, with nothing to lose but a life, and nothing to gain but the satisfying of her heart” (p.212).

The remainder of the book chronicles the escape. Does Jim make it? What happens to Miriam? And what does he find if he makes it home? To write of this would spoil the ending.

What was interesting for me to reflect upon was who was the “eighth champion”? On the face of it, it seemed to be Jim, and yet the more one considers, it seems plausible that the champion was actually Miriam, a heroic warrior in her own way, striving to save “Christendom” even as a Jewish emigre.

The story is hardly unique–the awakening awareness of the horror of war, harrowing escapes, heroic efforts. love and loss. What set this apart is the quiet eloquence of Edith Pargeter’s writing that draws us into the story. This is the first of a trilogy of novels written shortly after the war. I hope I can find the sequels.

*Edith Pargeter also wrote the series of Brother Cadfael stories under the name Ellis Peters.

Review: A Blaze of Glory

October 27, 2014October 27, 2014 / rtrube54 / 1 Comment

A Blaze of Glory by Jeff Shaara
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Jeff Shaara and his father, Michael Shaara, gave us a wonderful trilogy of historical novels on the Eastern Campaigns in the Civil War. Now Jeff is working on a series on the Western Theater, beginning with this volume on the battle of Shiloh.

Shaara unfolds the battle for us in understandable terms. The Confederates have been driven out of Tennessee by Grant, who, for all his mistakes, fights to win. Albert Sidney Johnston has gathered the forces in Corinth, Mississippi, for what seems to be a defense of this key rail center, except for the fact that Grant and his troops are not moving from Pittsburg Landing. They are forced to wait for Don Carlos Buell’s troops to join him. In this, Johnston sees a chance to strike Grant while Grant’s back is to a river, and where he is unprepared for battle.

And so it comes about. Despite infuriating delays in movement and a change in strategy proposed by Colonel Jordan, a staff member loyal to Beauregard, he achieves more or less total surprise against the Union troops, driving them back toward the river, first in frantic retreat, and then as Union lines are restored to better defensive positions, against increasing resistance resulting in horrific losses for both sides. Shaara gets us into the mind of Johnston, as he sees troops being fed into the battle piecemeal as a result of Jordan’s strategy, and yet senses the wavering resistance of the Union and the key opportunity on his right to get between the Union and the river and roll up the Union lines. Not being able to sufficiently rouse the troops through his field commanders, he leads the charge himself, resulting in his tragic death.

Still, this charge and Ruggles’ artillery lead to the surrender of Prentiss and a general retreat to Pittsburgh landing. The Union is on the ropes as Beauregard takes command, and yet with an hour of daylight, he calls a cease fire and declares a victory! This allows Grant the time he needs to be reinforced by Lew Wallace and Buell. Grant, ever the fighter, turns the tables and with his now-superior forces, routs the Confederates, who retreat to Corinth.

Shaara leaves us wondering about the “what-ifs”. What if they had attacked in a broad arc of lines rather than columns? What if they had fought that crucial hour longer on the first day? Would they have broken Grant, or been repulsed by his concentrated forces? And the biggest “what if” is what if Johnston had lived and how might the Western campaigns been different?

The novel also explores the political intrigue among both Union and Confederate generals, and the experience of battle from front line troops. We experience the terror of Private Bauer during the initial onslaught, the restored courage as he fights alongside his friend Willis during the Union resistance, the horrors of battle that cannot be washed away from body or mind, and the dawning realization that this is only the first of many fights. We also see the jealousies between Grant and Buell, the impatience and inner uncertainties of Sherman, and the corresponding tension between Johnston and Beauregard. And we glimpse the figures behind the scenes that drive these rivalries, Halleck for the Union and Davis with the Confederacy.

This novel has me in eager anticipation of the rest of the series. The next installment, A Chain of Thunder, on the battle for Vicksburg, is sitting on my “to be read” pile.

I received a complimentary copy of this novel from the publisher as part of a “First reads” contest sponsored by Goodreads.

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