Title: Young Bloods
Author: Simon Scarrow
Published by: Headline Review
Publication date: 11th Jan 2007
Genre: Historical Fiction
Pages: 608
Format: Paperback
Source: Private Collection

Blurb/Synopsis

Arthur Wesley (the future Duke of Wellington) was born and bred to be a leader. With a firm belief that the nation must be led by a king, the red-coated British officer heads for battle against the French Republic, to restore the fallen monarchy.

Napoleon Bonaparte joins the French military on the eve of the Revolution. He believes leadership is won by merit, not by noble birth. When anarchy explodes in Paris he’s thrust into the revolutionary army poised to march against Britain.

As two mighty Empires embark on a bloody duel, Wesley and Bonaparte prepare to face a sworn enemy, unaware that the fate of Europe will one day lie in their hands…

Review

I picked this book up after watching the Napoleon film, which was pretty close to rubbish! This book was not, and it gave a far more satisfying experience.

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Young Bloods is the first book in a Quartet about the historical giants, Arthur Wesley and Napoleon Bonaparte. Starting from the moment of their birth, following the events that shaped their young lives until a fixed point in their military years, some months later.

The detail that Scarrow goes into during the early lives of these monumental characters (I shall call them thus because this is historical fiction) is astounding! What I felt was lacking in the Napoleon film is a level of detail to any aspect of Napoleon’s life; everything was hurried and glossed over so that it could all be shoe-horned into a two-hour experience. What Young Bloods does is take those details and magnifies them tenfold! Not a stone is left unturned in our young generals’ lives, and seeing them spelt out together, side by side, shows the similarities and differences between them. One being a die-hard royalist who believes the country needs a king to rule it, while the other believes that men should be rewarded based on their skills/merit.

This book details the formative years, giving the background reasoning behind the characters and what will drive them on in the subsequent books. Background details like this are important so that we can understand their driving motivations for their future endeavours. The details are given in both the characters military actions as well as their childhood endeavours -Wesley hiding toy troops behind a hill, Napoleon going all out to win a snowball fight – they may seem like small, insignificant scenes, but they all add up and build the foundations of the characters very essence.

Seeing how their lives contrast, Napoleon, being the outcast Corsican trying to establish himself and find his place in a rapidly changing France and Wesley, a dreary youth, the third son of an Aristocrat that doesn’t have a head for numbers or… anything else for that matter. It’ll be interesting to see how their lives and fortunes change from their origins.

What I enjoyed the most about this book was how easy it was to pick up and read. I struggle with some historical fiction because the authors let historical accuracy get in the way of good storytelling. I find this with the Sharpe novels, which I do enjoy for the most part. You’re enjoying a good drama between characters, and then all of a sudden, you’re reading about the specific placement of troops, what they’re wearing, down to the specific weave of their uniform frogging and all sense of story is lost. Not so the case with Young Bloods, where Scarrow masterfully blends storytelling with detail.

There are some scenes in which Scarrow makes up history – Arthur and Napoleon meet briefly as teenagers – but he acknowledges that this is entirely fictitious, which I appreciate. I agree with Scarrow that an opportunity such as this was too good to pass by; why let exacting details interfere with telling a great story? And, this story is great, unless you\’re a die-hard historian, which I am not.

Summary

I loved every second of this 600+ page book and I am so excited to read the next one!! Bring it on!

I’d much rather spend my hours with my nose in these books than watching the travesty that was the Napoleon film!