Western

Great Forester novel about an eighteen-pound cannon during the Peninsular War. Abandonment - local people - guerrilleros - battles. ( )

This is a book that I can't pick up unless I have the time to read it through. There's not a wasted word, and though the story is simple, it flows. An abandoned cannon is refurbished and used with great effect by the anti-French Forces in Spain. There was a dreadful ego trip movie starring Frank Sinatra made from this novel. The film's called "The Pride and the Passion." "Cracked" magazine had a wonderful poster made up "See Spain! Help pull de Cannon!" ( )

A few years ago I read Forester's Hornblower series of books and thoroughly enjoyed them so when I was given this book I was very enthusiastic about reading it. Sadly I was a somewhat disappointed with it.

The book is the story of an old ornate artillery piece abandonned by the defeated regular Spanish Army, during their battle against the French during the Peninsula War, which is found and pressed into service by freedom fighters as they attempt to harry the French rearguard. Before discovering the gun the guerillos can merely harry the French garrisons supply lines but with it they are more able to take the battle to the garrisons themselves. As their success grows so other groups of guerillos join the force with whomever is in command of the gun has overall command of these disparate groups. This however,presents problems of another kind and is no guarantee of survival.

There are some interesting character vignettes but the real star of the show is the gun itself. For this reason the story is told somewhat along the lines of a history textbook and a rather dry with little zip because of it.

Before reading this I knew very little about the Peninsula War so at least my knowledge of that conflict has broadened a little more, that alone made it an interesting book but I'm afraid only an average one IMHO. ( )

I wavered between 2.5 and 3 stars for this one, but in the end I settled on the description I attribute to my 2.5-star reviews: "Almost liked it, but not quite." At any rate it is probably my least favourite Forester. The story focuses on a big bronze eighteen-pounder cannon that Spanish guerrillas steal from French forces during the Peninsular War and use to great effect on various campaigns. The battle scenes are very well done -- very typically Forester in that regard -- but overall I found this book more bereft of humour than his other works. I also think it would have been advisable to do some preliminary reading on the Peninsular War before starting; had I done that beforehand, I may have derived more enjoyment from this book. Recommended if you have an interest in the period. ( )