The finest historical short stories ever written is Conan-Doyle expert Owen Edwards’ verdict on the Brigadier Gerard series. In this new complete edition, which includes 55 original illustrations by W B Wollen, the aged Brigadier tells all his tales of Napoleonic gloire, quite unhindered by any sense of false modesty. He was, he tells us, the finest horseman … and the best swordsman in the entire Grande Armee , an outstandingly brave, hot-blooded hussar who was, of course, beloved by any woman fortunate to cast her eyes upon him. Nor was the Emperor unaware of Etienne Gerard’s accomplishments, and sought him out for a variety of secret, or especially dangerous assignments. And so we are told of wild adventures from the Peninsular War, Waterloo, the retreat from Moscow, Gerard’s imprisonment in England, and even an attempt to rescue Napoleon from St. Helena.

As we listen, we gradually realise that the bold Hussar’s brain was perhaps not quite as sharp as his sword. Gerard regularly misconstrues orders, and has the most preposterous ideas on the sporting ideals of his favourite enemy, the English, who he mistakenly believes to be in awe of his prowess at both pugilism and fox-hunting.

An inspiration for the Flashman series, George MacDonald Fraser describes Brigadier Gerard as a splendid catalogue of secret missions, escapes, love affairs, duels, disguises, pursuits, triumphs, and occasional disasters, narrated in inimitable mock French style.