by Conan Doyle · Cluster: Adventure Fiction · Empire and Imperialism · Peril and Survival

Abstract

A series of comic adventure tales narrated by the aging Hussar Etienne Gerard, who fought through Napoleon’s campaigns and remains gloriously convinced of his own bravery, swordsmanship, and irresistibility to women. Through his boastful, self-deluding first-person voice Doyle gently satirizes both French vanity and English notions of the French, while delivering genuine derring-do — duels, sieges, and narrow escapes across Napoleonic Europe.

Capitoli / Chapters

Readability (prose)-23.5 Flesch ease36.4 FK grade39.8 Fog19% complex80 words/sent

Connections

Forms & Genres: Short Story, Satire, Adventure Fiction Themes & Concepts: Honour, Heroism, Vanity, War and its Cost, Revenge Motifs: Horse, Swords and Weapons, Fire Historical References: Napoleon, Napoleonic Wars the Navy Settings: Poland, Battlefield, Europe Characters: Brigadier Gerard, Napoleon Bonaparte Archetypes: Hero Topoi: Last Stand