Young Blood

(2005-04-09) [Note: keeping the original date provided]. Young Blood. Napoleon vs. Wellington I. I received this book as a birthday gift in 2013. And, due to one reading or another, it took me a while to read it completely. It is a 2012 edition with 763 pages. Translated by Montse Batista. It is a Pocket edition from the Edhasa publishing house, whose webpage is www.edhasa.es.

The cover of the text features two crossed sabers at the top and a painting at the bottom. The title of the artwork is “Gordons and Greys to the Front: An Incident at Waterloo” by painter Stanley Berkeley, published in 1896. The painter excelled in animal subjects, sporting themes, and historical subjects, especially military scenes. The translation of the work's title would be something like “Gordon y los Grises al Frente: Un incidente en Waterloo.” From what I read in English in a translation that is perhaps unreliable on my part, the painting depicts a minor event (ironically, perhaps, the author calls it an "incident") during the Battle of Waterloo—an event partially confirmed by each of the regiments that intervened on either side, yet questioned by other critics. The event concerns the charge made by the Royal Scots Greys regiment against the French column composed of the 45th Regiment of the Line (Régiment de Ligne). The painting also features the 92nd Highlanders, who were on foot and using muskets, joining the charge. One of the Greys spots an opportunity to capture the Eagle, and they rush toward it. A sergeant manages to capture it from the French and receives the order to take the trophy out of the battle, denying the French troops the opportunity to recover their battle standard. Thus ends this event, with the English having defeated the French column and captured one of their battle standards. This is the scene represented in the painting.

Now I will talk a bit about the author. Simon Scarrow was truly unknown to me. I searched online and found that he is an English history professor and writer born in Nigeria, known for writing fictionalized historical narratives. He has written around 27 titles. His webpage is http://www.simonscarrow.co.uk/. Among his books, some are geared toward young adults. However, he has achieved popularity with two of his historical series: one set during the Roman Empire, called the Eagle series, and the other series, whose main historical context is the French Revolution, known as the Revolution series.

The Revolution series touches only very briefly on the specific topic of the Revolution itself and its most interesting or popular characters, focusing instead on two very particular individuals who experienced a period of growth and intervention during the time the revolutionary process was unfolding. The Revolution series consists of four books: Young Bloods (2007), The Generals (2008), Fire and Sword (2009), and The Fields of Death (2010).

As can be seen, the book Young Bloods is the first in the series and deals with the lives of Napoleon and Wellington. The latter is the English military commander who defeated the former at the Battle of Waterloo.

The book is a simple read, well-developed, and features a rich vocabulary. For those who enjoy historical topics, it is a great book to take advantage of. And if you are into military themes, even better. In my particular case, I had never delved beyond general encyclopedia aspects regarding these two figures. Approaching them through a historical novel is very nice and quite enriching. In that regard, it is a recommended book.

It is developed in the form of parallel lives—something not invented by this author, but which he chooses to flesh out by alternating the characters one by one, in parts of two or three chapters dedicated to each. The narrative features simple descriptions.

The difficulty arises when he recreates the childhood and youth of both characters, and I must admit the challenge this must pose for any author, given that no testimonies exist and he has to recreate them. To make this recreation credible, one must be sufficiently ingenious; he must recreate scenes from childhood, youth, and their years as cadets, which is extremely difficult. The author attempts to do this, I suppose, from the perspective of a Frenchman/Englishman, life in an academy/regiment, all back then, in that era. Although I am unaware if records exist, I believe he does it well; it flows nicely, but it remains the least credible or heaviest part to read.

However, past the halfway point of the book, the text becomes interesting. It begins to develop events for which historical records do actually exist, and at the same time, the action begins—they start taking an active part in the politics and society of their respective places. Naturally, Napoleon turns out to be somewhat more interesting. It is a page-turner.

This book spans from the birth of both military figures up to the Siege of Toulon in 1793 in Napoleon's case, and in Wellington's case, it reaches the Flanders Campaign in the Netherlands, specifically up to the Battle of Boxtel in 1794.

A passage that I really liked, as the author imagined it, occurs in the early pages with Wellington's birth: “The result had been a pale little thing that did not stop trembling, not even after the midwife had cleaned it, cut the umbilical cord, and handed it to the mother wrapped in the clean folds of a baby blanket” (p. 11). The situation was complicated; the adults had no hope for the baby, believing he would soon die due to how delicately he was born and past experiences with similar births. A few pages later, the following dialogue takes place: “‘Poor boy,’ said Garrett quietly. ‘Poor Henry.’ He noticed his wife tense up when he said his name. ‘What’s the matter?’ ‘Don’t call him that,’ she turned toward the window. ‘But it’s the name we agreed to give him.’ ‘Yes, but he may not… live. I had reserved that name for a son who was strong. If he dies, then I won’t be able to use that name for another. I couldn’t.’ ‘I understand.’ Garrett gently squeezed her shoulder. ‘But a Christian child cannot die without a name.’” (p. 18)

Another phrase that I liked says: “‘What have you got in there, sir?’ The boy’s chest heaved from the effort of lifting the trunk. ‘Gold?’ ‘In a way. The gold of the poor, sir,’ Napoleon laughed. ‘Books. They are just books.’” (p. 317)

At the end, the book has an Epilogue in which the author recommends what he considers to be the best books written regarding each of the characters in case one wants to delve deeper into the subject. At the same time, he acknowledges the difficulty of recreating the youthful moments of both. He also details those events that he clearly invented and did not exist as such in terms of historical reference. Finally, he tells us about the innumerable sources and written material about one of them in relation to the other.

A fair historical novel to read.