Julian Rathbone, the author, has done a remarkable job of telling the fictionalized account of the life of an engaging, adventurous man of the Napoleonic era. Joseph, as a character, is so interesting and well developed that you feel you know him very well. Other characters are similarly developed and portrayed. Furthermore, the plot is fascinating and well-paced, taking the reader across the map of Europe, through villages, battlegrounds, etc. Mr. Rathbone clearly researched his subject well, as he has a clear command of the era in his descriptions of the life of the times. As a reader, you become completely immersed in the story and learn much about this important time in European history. The book was shortlisted for the Booker Prize, and it is easy to see why it was. I have also read Mr. Rathbone's book, The Last English King, which is equally, if not perhaps, more wonderful. Fans of well-written, literary historical fiction will be richly rewarded from reading these books of Mr. Rathbone.

So ...I take it home and immediately go to Amazon.com to see if "Julian Rathbone" has ever done anything else, or might be instead a clever psuedonym employed by Graham "Robert Markham" Greene or another. Surprisingly, I found Mr. Rathbone alive and well.

But I would not have been surprised to find Greene's pen, or in fact LeCarre's or Deighton's, behind this superb cold-war thriller which features an escapee from a Soviet "cultural exchange program" (read: circus) who goes on the lam because of the unfortunate coincidence that his twin brother is a hard-boiled assassin-for-hire.

Soon he is in the middle of double- and triple-crosses, and hunted by the Russians, the Americans, and the Israelis. The book has the philosophical, downbeat feel of the great George Smiley/Bernard Samson classics and deserves a second look. The pages were literally falling away as I sped through this undiscovered espionage classic.

A fine retelling of the events leading up to and culminating with the Battle of Hastings from the viewpoint of Walt, one of the surviving Huscarls of Harald (and to a lesser extent a bard in the court of William). The Story recounts the feud between the Edward the Confessor and the Godwin Family and the resulting struggle between Harald Godwinson and William the Conqueror for the English throne upon Edwards death. The tale also focuses upon Walt's acceptance of his lords death and the end of his society and his reconciliation with the guilt that he feels as a survivor of these events.

I have long been interested in this period of English history and like the author, have a definite leaning to the cause of Harald. As a result this book held me engrossed to the end. I found myself liking the viewpoint character Walt who is presented as a loyal and simple man and sympathising with his feelings of loss and desolation at Williams triumph.

Unlike other reviewers I did not find authors use of modern terms such as psychopath and therapy (to describe the beneficial effects Walt felt in recounting his tale) jarring or detracting from the overall tale. After all I had already assigned these and other modern terms to the situations and experiences described in my own mind - so why shouldn't the author use them?

If I found a weakness with the story it was with the authors description of the set piece conflicts. All were written in a narrative style, seemed a little disjointed and lacking the impact that I was expecting. This however is a minor quibble in a very good book, which I would not hesitate to recommend to anyone interested in this period of history

The Last English King is, of course, a slight historical inaccuracy (Harold being half Scandinavian), but slight inaccuracies in the name of a good yarn are rife and to be tolerated if one is to enjoy this book...which I am doing. Yes, Im not even finished "reading" it (via the excellent talking book version), but can offer some insights. Having read many varying historical analyses, I am always eager to see how an author of fiction brings the tale to life , plugs the holes in fact and disentangles the embellishments and propoganda of history without creating too many of their own. Harold Godwineson, portrayed as a fair and worthy king (and why not, if we are to view the pre-conquest time as a golden age), has been dead for some years as his former housecarl (bodyguard) and friend Walt Edwinson wanders around Europe torturing his soul with guilt, as he tries to live with his failure at surviving the battle on the hill "near the hoar apple tree" near Hastings. As he unloads his tale to Quint, a slightly fallen former Saxon monk, he also schools us on the history and the intricate intrigues leading up to October 14, 1066. The personal portrayal of history brings it to life in a believable fashion, though some of the tales are a bit tall. The role of Talliefer, the magician/musician is a little too Merlinesque for me. The historical existence of this character is too doubtful to give him a role of such magnitude. Also, a royal housecarl (particularly an inner circle one such as Walt) would have to lose their head before leaving a field in battle without their king...be he dead or alive. The back and forth narrative would work well in a visual medium, but could prove difficult for a reader without a knowledge of the known history. For ease of understanding and plot development, I preferred Helen Hollicks recent "Harold the King", which seemed more plausible historically, if a little too virtuous in its portrayal of Harold (he seemed...such a great guy)and light on in the final battle scenes. For dark twists, Rathbones book has more visceral reality, but perhaps too many of them to gel (such as Edward the confessors illicit relationship with Tostig, and abortive pagan nuptials with Edith). And as a fan of Bernard Cornwells Arthurian "Warlord Chronicles" , I also found the comparison between Walt and Derfel Cadarn just a little too similar (both having been close friends of a King, having lost their hand, and telling their tale in retrospect) .

I bought this book at Stansted Airport hoping to pass a few otherwise boring hours of travel. I didn't realise how enthralled I was to become, not just in the plot but in the whole scene of pre-Norman England. Certainly Julian Rathbone's presentation brings the rather stilted characters depicted on the Bayeux Tapestry to life as flesh and blood. It has also aroused in me (an Englishman in exile living in Spain surrounded by Scots!) a definite patriotism as well as an interest to read further into the history of the period. (I romantically like to think of my own ancestors linking shields to protect the last truly English king). Certainly the parallelism with our own end of Millennium 'threat' from across the Channel was not lost on me. The wide (but not pretentiously used I think) vocabulary made this interesting as literature.

On the minus side: The anachronisms (depsite the plea of the author in his foreword) do sometimes grate. And I think he possibly has some religious axe to grind.

This could have been a great book - the idea of seeing medieval England throguh the eyes of foreigners from a distant and more advanced civilisation is a good one, but the author falls back on the traditional stereotypes of the Middles Ages - stupid violent knights, thicko peasants speaking in 'Mummerset' accents, filth and ignorance etc. etc. In makes you wonder why someone is drawn to write about a period and people that he clearly despises so much. One to avoid.

This book has much to recommend it. It is vivid, alive with the smells and sights of 15th Century England. The story has shifting points of view by having different narrators, and this is handled with skill by Rathbone. By having the main narrator, Ali, an Arab, who travels the Middle and Far East, it puts English History into a World History Context.

Conversely, I found myself getting confused by the events. Who was fighting who and that sort of thing. Now I know with the War of the Roses, it is difficult to differentiate between the two sides, but I would have thought it was the novelist's job to do just this for us. Towards the end of the book, I had stopped caring about either the characters or the plot. There is also too much description of people. A brief descripton suffices. "She was tall, with beautiful brown eyes and olive skin" is all you need to say about someone. A paragraph spent describing someone's looks is a paragraph wasted. Too much description and the resulting image is that of a grotesque freak.

This is such a disappointment after The Last English King, which is so superior.

This delighful and well written book relates the adventures of a group of Asians in England during the War of the Roses. An Eastern Indian prince and his entourage are guided by a Middle Eastern merchant to a country called Ingelond. The prince wants to learn about the arts of warfare that may aid his own people in their wars against the encroaching Sultans. They are accompanied by a Fakir and a young woman whose goal in life it is to experience the pleasures of earthly life. This she finds plentiful in many of the exotic men she encounters.
The experiences of this odd group with regard to customs and weather are amusing while the detailed accounts of politics, battles, and players are exciting and informative.
The language of the book is modern but its application consistent with the presumed culture of the time, making it occasionally rude and vulgar but also entirely fitting.
I recommend this story highly to those who are interested in history and also want to be thrilled and amused.

The author is completely in love with Wellington. He refers to Napoleon as "the much overrated General Buonaparte." He doesn't have the courtesy to call him by his prefered name. He describes Wellington's dispatches as a joy to read, whereas they are actually very dull. As far as I can tell, he has his facts right, he just presents them in a very one sided and boring way. Overall, if you need something to start a fire with, this is the book for you.

Normally I would give this a 3/4 star review, but as the book isn't likely to be reviewed frequently, I'll give it a 5 to balance the other review.
Rathbone has taken Wellington's written commentary on the Peninsular War from letters, dispatches, etc, and woven them into a history of the expulsion of the French from the Iberian Penisula by the British, Portugese, and Spanish. Rathbone is indeed enamored of his subject, but rightly so (I'm sure there is plenty of counterbalancing material out there). The story is told in a clear, illuminating fashion, and is exciting until the end.
I found Wellington as depicted here fascinating in his own words: brilliant, farthinking, strategic, daring, bold. It took a genius to beat the genius of Napoleon.
This may not be the best material for serious students of this time, but as a contextual supplement to the Cornwell Sharpe series, it is perfec

The summary description of "Blame Hitler" covers the basics of the story well, without actually identifying the aspects that engage the reader making Thomas' bleeding bowel a topic of minor interest. Minor, because there is more going on in this story, between the characters, both within the current time and through flashbacks. Thomas is aging and while not doing too badly physically, mentally he is not coping all that well with the engaging qualities of the symptoms of aging: arthritis and other aches and pains, odd feelings, and the panorama of one's past in general. This is the core of the story and how Thomas eventually reconciles his current existence with both his past, his parents past and maybe his view of Wellington's place in history for that matter, is what sustains the reader to the end. I didn't think the author maintained the momentum at an even pace to the end, which became vague in the last 10 or 20 pages, but that is a personal criticism. That part portrays Thomas' crisis and maybe I missed the point, it just struck me as a little overdone. On the other hand, I wasn't dissatisfied with the resolution in the last 2 or 3 page. The writing is pleasant to read, the descriptions of France are attractive, and some of the incidents are very believable, even vivid. While not a compelling book, it is a long way short of being disappointing. Great for a plane trip and certainly won't be discouraging on a holiday. Give it a go.

Although this was published under the "Mask Noir" imprint, it's more of a thriller set just prior to the Gulf War, than a mystery per se. The story is about an embittered British radar technician who is inexplicably fired from his job in England. He soon finds himself unwittingly (at first) in the employ of Iraq in modifying a radar system so that it can detect stealth aircraft, and thus protect the Republican Guard. There are all kinds of standard thriller complications: a Palestinian "honey-pot," a CIA "watcher," an likable elderly father, etc. The book skips around a bit, sometimes in first-person by one of Saddam's attendants, sometimes in first-person by the CIA watcher, sometimes in a Pentagon meeting, but it mostly follows the radar tech. The attempts to portray the Americans are fairly clumsy, and the Palestinian girl's motivations seem to be awfully flexible. Pretty hum-drum stuff, all in all.