The Walking Drum

by Louis L'Amour

Walking Drum, The

Genres: Historical Fiction, Fiction, Westerns, Adventure, Historical, Classics, Medieval

484 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published May 1, 1984

About the author

Louis Dearborn L'Amour was an American novelist and short story writer. His books consisted primarily of Western novels, though he called his work "frontier stories". His most widely known Western fiction works include Last of the Breed, Hondo, Shalako, and the Sackett series. L'Amour also wrote historical fiction (The Walking Drum), science fiction (The Haunted Mesa), non-fiction (Frontier), and poetry and short-story collections. Many of his stories were made into films. His books remain popular and most have gone through multiple printings. At the time of his death, almost all of his 105 existing works (89 novels, 14 short-story collections, and two full-length works of nonfiction) were still in print, and he was "one of the world's most popular writers".

Reviews

[Henry Avila · Rating 4 out of 5]

In the mostly pagan seafaring region of Brittany, a young Celtic man Mathurin Kerbouchard, just a teenager really, comes back home from a long successful, dangerous fishing trip off the cold waters of Iceland, the voyage was good but he finds the family's ancestral house burnt to the ground, his brave mother a Druid savagely murdered, loyal servants butchered animals and goods scattered to the wind by the local robber baron Tournemine, more bandit than royal, who took advantage of Mathurin's father's absence, and reported death Jean, a famous corsair, ( a polite name for pirate) the baron's bones shook, at his enemy's mere name spoken, welcome to the late 12th century...The cub as the baron's men disparagingly call him, vows revenge but first he must survive when a big marauder, coming back to get more loot if any , and sees the boy pulling out a bag from the inside of a well, gold coins soon are discovered, they struggle and luck remains with Mathurin, escaping from the merciless killer to the beach close by, yet good fortune does not last a band of lowly pirates steals his money there, and makes him a galley slave...The captain of the boat Walther, an ignorant, fat, duplicitous, bloodthirsty brute knows little of navigating a ship and still the Celtic boy, saves the raiders after promises of better treatment, Kerbouchard is made the pilot, by directing them during a sea storm, high waves and sprays on the deck, dark clouds above rain falling down frightening the untrained crew not able sailors indeed, back to the Spanish coast. Nevertheless the spoils of piracy are profitable, attacking unarmed small merchant boats...An Arab princess from a prize vessel seized in the Mediterranean Sea, that the pirates want her to be dispose quickly overboard, Mathurin helps rescue from an inglorious end, think of the ransom he tells the greedy pirates, (besides Aziza, is too pretty and young) much more money than the goods from the captured ship...Finally the bright boy and fine pilot, still a pagan, future warrior and scholar tricks the buccaneers into sailing to the port of Cadiz in Moorish Spain, one of the gateways to the intellectual capital of the world in 1176, exciting, captivating, boisterous and prosperous Cordoba they have many books, unlike Christian Europe, scholars are very much appreciated there. The city is full of libraries and coffee houses, the people inside have every kind of discussion freely and stimulating thoughts, pervade. Kerbouchard the seeker of knowledge flees from his illiterate captors, studies with other students and scholars, learns Latin, Greek, Arabic, Persian in the city of Cordoba, becomes a translator of books, he falls in love with various beautiful women, fights villains with his sharp sword, makes good friends and bad enemies, the years go by but rumors spread that his father is still alive, a slave in a valley of assassins in Persia, dominated by a mystifying tower overlooking the rugged, mountainous land, the boy now a man must save him, it is his duty, Jean Kerbouchard, yet how ? He joins a large, well armed caravan of merchants with a walking drum, constantly being beaten on the vast steppes, full of unfriendly, fierce tribes, going east. An adventure that never lets the interest wane, if you want to become better acquainted with this virtually unknown era, the politics , customs, people, buildings, books they read, vicious rulers in charge, this is the book for you, not exactly literature but a fresh breeze from a stuffy, academic study.

[Jesse · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was the second L'Amour novel I've read, the first being The Haunted Mesa nearly a decade ago, and I have gained an enormous new respect for the author. Known primarily for his Westerns, L'Amour tackles an entirely different venue with this story that sweeps across all of Northern Europe, the Eurasian Steppes, and on down through Constantinople all the way to Persia and beyond, near the end of the 12th Century. The geography involved is as thorough and accurate as any of Mr. L'Amour's depictions of the American Southwest, and is even displayed as a map on the pages before the first chapter, in much the same fashion used by modern fantasy writers to show the details of their imagined kingdoms. In addition to the landscape, the customs, languages, and even styles of dress of the time are remarkably well-detailed and represented; also, as I'm learning should be expected in a L'Amour novel, the very names and likenesses of Emperors, nobles, and high-class individuals of the period are expertly brought into use. As a student of histories, having earned a double Bachelor's in Archaeology and Classical Civilizations, and routinely indulging my lifelong interest in Medieval times, I must admit to being humbled - Louis Dearborn L'Amour, a man who received no schooling past the age of 15 and no formal training in research, could have put my own abilities to shame.

Regardless of the historical accuracy and other technical aspects of the novel, as a reader and lover of stories I was thoroughly entertained by The Walking Drum's hero, Mathurin Kerbouchard, and his adventures and endeavors. L'Amour's work exhibits that rarest of talents in an author, to present great amounts of detail and create a realistic, believable world, while simultaneously keeping the story moving at a very engaging pace. I found myself routinely intending to put down the book and take care of other things, only to continue turning the page and launching into the next chapter. Perhaps the only flaw encountered was the occasional confusion of perception: L'Amour described his own work as more in keeping with oral tradition and intended to be read aloud, likening it to stories told by traveling bards; however, this particular piece is written in the first person. The result is a feeling within the reader that you are more often experiencing Kerbouchard's trials and successes through his own eyes, but occasionally being jerked out of time to view events from the modern perspective, looking back. Still, this being the single qualm I had with the novel, and the transitions being well smoothed-over, it hardly comes close to spoiling a highly enjoyable read of an absolutely stupendous book.

The Walking Drum should be on the reading list of any fan of historical fiction, any enthusiast of Crusade-era Europe, anyone who enjoys a thrilling adventure story, and, well, just about anyone else who can read.

[Trace · Rating 5 out of 5]

Yep - an actual 5 star rating!! Not because the writing was particularly brilliant (its good, not brilliant). Not because the characterization was particularly genius (its not). The writing at times was even a bit disjointed.

But its a 5 star book in my eyes because I know that I'll return to this book again and again over the years and I know that I'll still take something new from it each time. In otherwords its a classic... and one that I need to buy for my library. I literally filled my journal with 2 pages worth of quotes from this book and could have filled even more - but I'll leave thoughts to ponder for my NEXT read-through. It was also jam packed with tidbits of historical facts that would easily provide for months and months of further study, if one likes to follow rabbit trails (and I DO!!!).

I felt an immediate kinship with the author. One can immediately tell that he values an education in the classics. I've heard that all of his hero's in his books read quite a few classics and that he places an importance on self-education. I can't believe I've not read anything by him yet. I'm looking forward to discovering more of his works and I'm thankful that he was a prolific writer in his lifetime!

[Charles van Buren · Rating 2 out of 5]

A long, meandering tome which juxtaposes some decent adventure writing with some really boring sequences. I kept wanting to yell at the characters to stop wondering about things over and over and just go look.

This is the book which convinced me of two things: Louis L'Amour was better at writing short works and I am never going to read another long L'Amour book. Every one I've read ranged from a little disappointing to very disappointing.

[Diamond Cowboy · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the best book I have ever read by this author. For one thing it was not a western.
It took place long ago. A young man had lost his father while his father was sailing and fighting wars.
The young man sets out on a quest to find his father wheather dead or alive. He has many trials and tribulations. He meets interesting people along the way, murderers, thieves, riteous men and women and much more. He has to fight for his own honor as well as many other people's honor a long the way.
I highly recommend this book to all.

[Angela · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book annoyed me. It was just barely good enough to keep reading. I usually like historical novels, but this one missed the mark. The main character goes off to find his father, and falls in love along the way. Ought to be a decent enough book. It might have been, if he'd had that as a plot line and stuck to it. But he didn't. The main character keeps taking detours, all of which involve separate subplots where he conquers some other beautiful woman's heart and acquires some other sort of distinction (he seems to find it pretty easy to forget that he's trying to save his father) so that by the end of the book he's a physician, an alchemist, an acrobat, an unparalleled swordsman, and can read and write half a dozen languages and transcribe entire books from memory. Oh, yes, and he's made friends with half the major figures of the time period... And then to make it worse the author keeps inserting history lessons every few pages. It annoyed me.

[Checkman · Rating 1 out of 5]

As a kid I read many a Louis L'Amour western. I liked them and I could read them in a matter of few hours. Lots of fun and some history thrown in for good measure.

Okay so lets move ahead some thirty years. I picked up The Walking Drum out of curiosity. I like history and I always enjoy the occasional historical novel. But this thing was terrible. The hero is a superman. He's smarter, wittier, better read, stronger, more skilled with a blade, has a better horse, can outfight everyone, has more money, speaks eighteen languages and so on and so forth. Give me a break!

So I then went to my local thrift store and picked up a couple of L'Amour's old westerns. I wanted to see if his earlier works were better.

They're just as bad!

I realize that L'Amour started out as a pulp fiction writer in the 30's. Okay. But he never improved over the next fifty years. The stories are all the same. The heroes are from a template. All the characters are from a template as are the plots. The books all went back to the second-hand store. I won't be reading anymore L'Amour novels.

So much for youthful memories.

[Gina · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book was really fun to read. The swashbuckling, womanizing, philosophizing adventurer Kerbouchard trapses around 11th century Europe, alternating between escaping death at the hands of half a dozen armed guards and bedding beautiful, exotic women. He also strikes revenge on the man who murdered his mother by throwing his dead body into the cesspool that is the mythological Druid opening to the underworld precisely as lightening strikes. And every single adventure is that over the top. It's hilarious. But it's entertaining historical fiction, and you can't help but learn some things about the times, and how rotten western Europe was compared to Moorish Spain.

I actually read this because it's listed as a "classic" on the Thomas Jefferson Education lists, and I was rather surprised to see a Louis L'Amour book on there, so I wanted to check it out. This book cannot, by any stretch of a reasonable definition, be considered a classic. The writing is trite and formulaic, the characters stock, the philosophizing annoyingly juvenile. The only reason I can think of that they list this book is because the main character's insatiable quest for knowledge and reading original manuscripts is supposed to be some sort of model for someone following the TJEd method. Which is utterly embarrasing. Honestly, you can't imagine how conceited and unrealistically superhuman Kerbouchard is unless you've read the book. I'm not really a fan of much of what I know about TJEd, and I have to say this book confirmed my prejudice.

[Fredrick Danysh · Rating 5 out of 5]

Kerbonchard joins a trading caravan headed for the Far East through Constantinople. A warrior, scholar, and lover, he seeks knowledge. Captured and made a slave on a galley, he ends uo in the Valley of Assassins and women's bed chambers.

[Brenda · Rating 5 out of 5]

“The Walking Drum” is a historical novel set in 12th century Europe and the Middle East. Mathurin Kerbouchard, the main character, learns that his mother has been murdered in Brittany and that his father is now forced into servitude somewhere east of Baghdad and south of Tehran. Young Kerbouchard begins a long journey in search of revenge for his mother’s death and his missing father.
Knowing his mother was murdered by Baron de Tournemine, Mathurin immediately looks for a way to temporarily escape Brittany, so that his life won’t be taken as well. While escaping, he’s captured by Walter and his crew, and is forced to serve as a galley slave for a few months. However, with time, he attains the position of pilot, frees a captured Moorish girl, Aziza, and her companion, then frees his fellow slaves and with their help sells his captors into slavery and escapes to Cádiz in Moorish Spain, where he looks for news of his father.
Mathurin travels to Córdoba, where he becomes a scholar, but his scholarship is interrupted when he becomes involved in political intrigue surrounding Aziza and is imprisoned by Prince Ahmed. Scheduled to be executed, Mathurin escapes eastward to the hills outside the city. Mathurin returns to Córdoba and, aided by a woman he chances upon named Safia, he takes a job as a translator. However, the intrigue in which she is involved threatens their lives, and they must flee the city. Safia, known to have various connections, tells him that his father may be alive but was sold as a slave in the east.
Leaving Spain, the two join a merchant caravan, trading and fighting off thieves as they travel through Europe. When they reach Brittany, they attack the castle of Baron de Tournemine, and Mathurin personally kills him, avenging his mother.
As the caravan continues its travels, Safia has learned that Mathurin's father is at Alamut, the fortress of the Old Man of the Mountain (Assassin), but warns that going there is dangerous. They leave the caravan and go to Paris. Safia remains there, but Mathurin must go on and seek his father.
Before leaving Paris, Mathurin talks with a group of students but offends a teacher, then needing to flee for his life. While fleeing, he encounters the Comtesse de Malcrais, escaping marriage to Count Robert. They meet up with the caravans again at Provins, which are traveling to Kiev to trade their woolen cloaks and other goods for furs.
As they journey, they encounter hostile Petchenegs. A protracted battle ensues, by the end of which most of the caravan merchants are killed, but Suzanne may have escaped in a small boat, and Mathurin, wounded, hides in the brush and, barely surviving, nurses himself back to health and travels to Byzantium by land.
In the marketplace of Constantinople, Mathurin then takes to copying from memory books that he copied in Córdoba. Contacting Safia's informant, he learns that his father is indeed at Alamut, but that he attempted to escape and may be dead. Nevertheless, he is determined to go and find out. Going to an armorer who maintains a room for exercising with weapons, he meets some of the Emperor's guard and drops hints to one of them of the books he is copying, so that the emperor will hear of him. Invited to meet the emperor, Mathurin offers him advice and a book and tells the Emperor of his desire to rescue his father from Alamut.
Two weeks later, the emperor supplies Mathurin with a sword, three horses he had lost when the caravan was taken, and gold. Mathurin also hears news that Suzanne has returned safely to her castle and strengthened its defenses with survivors from the caravan.
Mathurin travels by boat across the Black Sea to Trebizond, changing his identity to ibn-Ibrahim, a Muslim physician and scholar. He finds Khatib, and old friend from Córdoba, who tells him rumors that his father is being treated terribly by a powerful newcomer to Alamut named al-Zawila.
Leaving Tabriz, Mathurin and Khatib travel to Qazvin, where he receives gifts and an invitation to visit Alamut. Before he leaves for Alamut, Mathurin meets the princess Sundari, from Anhilwara, and, learning that she is being forced into marriage, promises, if he escapes Alamut alive, to come to Hind and rescue her from this fate.
Arriving in Alamut, Mathurin is admitted but immediately taken captive. Many days later, he’s brought to a surgical room, being told that he has been brought to Alamut on an errand of mercy to save a slave's life, by making him a eunuch. The slave is his father. Pretending to cooperate, Mathurin covertly cuts his father's bonds with a scalpel then, spilling boiling water on some of the guards, draws his sword and engages the remaining guards. Other soldiers break into the room, and Mathurin and his father escape down the corridor and through an aqueduct into the hidden valley.

Hiding in the garden for a day, they learn of a nearby gate. During the evening they rush the gate and, assisted by a handful of slaves who are present, slay the guards, but the gate is closed on them. Mathurin then lights the fuses of his prepared pipe bombs (which he brought into Alamut), destroying the gate. He and his father escape out and down the side of the mountain. They soon meet Khatib with horses ready and ride off.
At the end of the book, Mathurin’s father rides toward Basra, seeking the sea again. Mathurin then rides toward Hind, to fulfill his promise to Sundari.
I loved this book! I found it had a bit of everything - romance, action, history, suspense, and so much more. L’Amour was very descriptive, making me feel as if I truly lived in the 12th century. It made me aware of the constant struggle for survival and power you would have to face, depending on your position in society. I found it difficult to put the book down, eager to know of the fate of Maturin’s father and his woman friends.
I would highly recommend this book to those who love historical fiction, adventure. They will definitely be intrigued by the various battle scenes and the knowledge L’Amour gives the reader of the 12th century Europe and Middle East. This book was very exciting, factual, adventurous, keeping me on my toes.

[Lucinda · Rating 5 out of 5]

What an educational adventure! Because I had a public school education, I am ignorant of the history of China, India, Russia and Moslem countries. It was fascinating. This is my first book by Louis L'Amour and I now have a great respect for his knowledge of the world and his incredible writing that kept me from putting this book down.

Some favorite quotes:

Kerbouchard was surrounded by students in France who wanted him to tell them all he knew from his studies..."How much could I tell them? How much dared I tell them? What was the point at which acceptance would begin to yield to doubt? For the mind must be prepared for knowledge as one prepares a field for planting, and a discovery made too soon is no better than a discovery not made at all."

"We had met as equals, rarely a good thing in such matters, for the woman who wishes to be the equal of a man usually turns out to be less than a man and less than a woman. A woman is herself, which is something altogether different than a man." I am stubborn, successful in my own business and independent but I love being a woman and being different from a man. In the 12th Century, I wouldn't be a sword weilding crusader!

"Up to a point a man's life is shaped by environment, heredity, and movements and changes in the world about him; then there comes a time when it lies within his grasp to shape the clay of his life into the sort of thing he wishes to be. Only the weak blame parents, their race, their times, lack of good fortune, or the quirks of fate. Everyone has it within his power to say, this I am today, that I shall be tomorrow. The wish, however, must be implemented by deeds."

These are lessons I want my children to learn!

[Jessica · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is easily five stars. I have so many favorite lines in it that I have actually underlined in the book that if I were to share them this review would go on forever. It's a real shame that L'Amour passed away before he could write the other two books he was planning with this character. I don't normally reread books but I could definitely seem myself rereading this one. I am ashamed to say I always thought of Louis L'Amour as a hokey western writer. Well, it's been my loss because this book could only be written by someone who was probably verging on being a genius. It's incredible, and if his western books are half as well written I may have found myself a new favorite writer. The characters and setting were so real that I found myself dreaming about this book upon falling asleep at night. I really can't say enough good things about it. Highly recommend!

[Allison · Rating 1 out of 5]

If I could give this book a zero I would. I absolutely loathe this book and always have since being forced to read it in 7th grade for a geography class. It is sexist, egotistical, and barely follows one plot. Perhaps the reason I most dislike it was because of how my teacher then explained it to us before we read it. He said, and I quote, “ It has some adventure and fighting for the boys, and romance for the girls.” Like, what? I happen to be a girl, and I enjoy fighting as much as the next person and, anyways, I hardly think the “ romance” in this book can even be called such. After the main character “woos” around 7 girls, he finally gets to the last one and, whithout ever speaking a word to her before, asks him to marry her. I’m not joking.
For this book, we also had to answer questions on each paragraph which, you would think it being a geography class, would be about geography. But,no. One question was “What are the two things a man can say to a woman to always get help?” The answer: 1. I love you and 2. To ask for food. Particularly in that order.
So, please excuse me for my feminist rant; even the thought of this book makes me angry and I didn’t even get into the many other things wrong with the story. If you enjoyed this book I’m glad, but please don’t mention it near me or I might scream.

[Carrie · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was pretty amused by the main character's attitude throughout the book. He was so full of himself it was hard to believe he made so many friends in the story. I was impressed by all the historical information squeezed in every nook and cranny, but felt it took a little away from the story. I wanted to know a little more about the characters brought in & out. *spoiler alert* the escape sequence at the end...really? it was that easy to escape a fortress in the mountains? and there will be no repercussions from an organization making their mark as the most reliable, deadly assassins in existence?
If I am going to invest 400 plus pages in your story, Mr. Lamour, I expect a better ending than what you gave me. That ending felt so half-ass, I was double checking to make sure there wasn't an epilogue. Instead I found a glossary to back up historical references...which was nice, but not what I was looking for.
And don't get me started on this character's version of 'loooove' because the number of women this guy fell in love with, only to completely let slip away, is ridiculous. But what do I expect from a guy who searches so meanderingly for his father?

[Christa · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was the first Louis L'amour book that I read. My dad said that it was his favorite out of all the authors books so that's the one I started with.
I couldn't have picked a better one because now I'm completely hooked and always have at least two of his books in my room,

My favorite thing about this book is that it gives a very different view of the middle ages then you get in most history books.
The difference is that the main character spends most of his time on the outskirts of Europe instead of the staple countries of England, France, and Germany. Finding out that Spain was was prospers and had well lighted street was a big discovery for me. I mean I sort of knew that most of Europe was behind the times I just didn't realize how far.

Before I read this book I had no idea what the rest of the world was like during the fourteen hundreds.

[Malum · Rating 5 out of 5]

This reminded me of Robert E Howard's historical adventure stories. Unlike Howard's works, though, It meanders and digresses far too often and yet I still couldn't help but to love it.

On a side note, I was pleasantly surprised that this story mainly focused on pagan and Muslim characters, and was very respectful to both.

[Cheryl Leigh · Rating 1 out of 5]

I don't even think I can finish this. A friend gave it to me as a gift. She said it was an "adventure" book. I suppose it is, but I'm just not into the arrogant, swashbuckling, "most-interesting-man-in-the-world" personality. He just irritates the devil out of me. I guess most men think with their, ahem, but I personally don't want to read about it.

[Shannon · Rating 2 out of 5]

There's some good historical overview in this tale but it's too over the top to the point in being melodramatic. The best thing I can garner here is that it's an older style of writing with a self-absorbed pulpy hero.

OVERALL GRADE: C minus

[Saul the Heir of Isauldur · Rating 2 out of 5]

Have you ever read a book that was so dense you'd have to pause your reading every page and give yourself time to absorb what you just read before moving on? This book was the opposite of that. It lacked any weight, any gravitas, any heft at all. Even the pulp-magazines of the 20s and 30s had heftier writing than The Walking Drum, and they were meant to be more expendable.

This novel, unlike L'Amour's westerns, has little sense of setting, scale or spectacle. The main character is travelling the world on a quest to find his father, but at no point do we get any indication that the cities in Spain are different from those in the Byzantine Empire. There is no description of landscapes, geography, architecture, culture, customs, tradition, layout, planning and only the barest hint of description of attire. I suppose I expected more from a historical epic, even if it was supposed to be a swashbuckling novel of adventure and travel.

For the first 70 pages, we (and by we, I mean the protagonist, Kerbouchard, who is also the narrator) are confined to a ship. We don't know what kind of ship, or where it came from, or what it looks like, or anything about it except that it has rowers and sails. The rest of the settings in the novel are the same way. They're so superficially mentioned (not even described, really) that the backgrounds are as paper-thin as the props used in a bad stage play.

The action is also superficial. An adventure comes and goes, and the protagonist conveniently comes out the other end without a scratch. In fact, he comes out better off than before. The close calls aren't that close, not really, and because the settings are so flat, the characters are left running from one place to the other screaming and making a lot of noise and acting like it's a big battle.

This type of novel isn't L'Amour's forte, and it shows. I never thought I'd miss the lengthy, almost pedantic, descriptions of the minutiae of daily life in 12th Century Cadiz, Spain. But here, they're sorely absent. Really, the best word I can use to describe the novel is "superficial." It's a superficial plot with a superficial setting. It's too light for its own good, despite being longer than most of L'Amour's other novels.

[Hparsley · Rating 5 out of 5]

I LOVED this book for many different reasons. I know that many people get annoyed with the protangonist because he can do everything, and do it better than anyone else; I think I did hear some complaints about all the women he had, too... :) For me, however, it just struck me as rather humorous because it seemed that with every adventure in every place/city he would find (and win) the most beautiful woman! And who could resist such a perfectly manly man? He can sword fight, fist fight, sail a boat with the best, tell you all about the tons of education works he's read - in several languages, too - and on and on. lol Some people are also frustrated with the amount of history that Louis L'Amour includes in this book. But that's one of the major reasons I love this book! I'm a huge history buff and love all sorts of different eras and parts of the world. No one can write history like the great researcher, Louis L'Amour. Now 12th century Spain is one of my favorite places/times in history, in part because of the way he painted it in his book. But he writes about several other things you'll run across in history - everything from Peter Abelard to Moorish rule of Spain to Vikings and assassins. The main character spends time in France, Russia-eske, India, Spain and many places in between - which didn't really exist as countries back then. All in all, I loved the history included, the over-the-top protagonist (and his humility), the length of the book, and all the substories/adventures that were included. Great book and really a must-read if you like history and swash-buckling adventure.

[John McDonell · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great tale that I first read as a teenager in the eighties and have read several times since. I was enthralled with this story and how well the character Kerbouchard was written. His zest for life and unwavering confidence was a little over the top but L'Amour gave him a few low points that grounded him a bit. The story takes place in the 12th century in Europe and you follow Kerbouchard through lots of regions as a young teenager looking for his father. I won't say anymore about the plot, but it's a swashbuckling, adventurous tale with added historical references peppered throughout. There are lots of love, honour, betrayal, losses and triumphs throughout. It is written in the first person which really gives you a thorough understanding of how the main character thinks and what motivates him. I re-read it last summer (2011)for the fourth or fifth time, and will likely read it again in 5 or 6 years. It is too bad that Mr. L'Amour passed away before a sequel could be written. Great Book.

[Gary · Rating 3 out of 5]

Someone once asked me why I haven't read any of Louis L'Amour's books. I didn't really have a good answer. I told him that if he loaned me one, then I would read it so he loaned me "The Walking Drum". When I started reading it, I couldn't take the way that it was written seriously but I plodded on. I ended up enjoying it. I feel like it is a romance novel for boys. I find it interesting how the main character treats women and then describes men. The main character is certainly over the top, I like my protagonists to be a little more flawed and pained.

[Brian · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazing book, my favorite of all time as of right now. Amazingly researched and based on actual facts (not sure on accuracy but it read well) with a gazillion quotable moments. I want to call Louis up and tell him he's really outdone himself.

[John A · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the most favorite reads. Excellent characters, story line, historical references, and grand adventure. If you liked the Count of Monte Cristo you will love this epic story.

[Jonathan · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Walking Drum is a fast-paced, fun novel. The witty banter, swashbuckling scenes, and rapid progression from frying pan to fire to the next worse predicament were enjoyable, if not a bit over-the-top.

What I enjoyed most of this book were the lessons about self-education, purpose, and history.

The protagonist feels an insatiable hunger for knowledge. He seeks to expand this knowledge through books, interactions with others, and experience. Like true scholars, he frequently laments how little he knows, while those around him wonder at his immense repertoire of wisdom and ability. As the saying goes: The more you know, the more you realize you know nothing. Still... the knowledge he has frequently gains him the upper hand in conversation and perilous situations.

Too often education is talked of as a service or good to be provided to the masses. It is a misconception that we can give another person knowledge. All true learning happens when the student applies himself and makes the sacrifice to learn. This happens best when the student has a driving purpose.

L'Amour indicates (through more than one villain) that the desire for knowledge without the willingness make the requisite effort to learn demonstrates poor character. Conversely, those in the story who understand their purpose willingly pursue the means, no matter the cost.

The final point I wish to address in this review is the attitude toward history. L'Amour says it best in the Author's Note at the end of the book:

Unhappily, history as presented in our schools virtually ignores two thirds of the world, confining itself to limited areas around the Mediterranean, to western Europe, and North America. Of China, India, and the Moslem world almost nothing is said, yet their contribution to our civilization was enormous, and they are now powers with which we must deal both today and tomorrow, and which it would be well for us to understand.

He typed those words in the 1980's, and they may be truer today than when he wrote them.

I went on to type a soap-box abusing rant about American ethnocentrism that was better off deleted.

The important thing is that we expand our minds and our understanding of other cultures and their contributions to science, religion, philosophy, etc. I don't claim that this book is fully correct or wholly important to this discussion, but it effectively invites the reader to consider the valuable lessons and contributions made throughout history that have been censored (whether intentionally or not)from our curricula.

Still kinda soap-boxy... sorry.

I recommend this book. I read it for a book club, and the opportunity to discuss it with others excites me.

[Jesse Broussard · Rating 2 out of 5]

Louis L'Amour typically writes a decent book. Wodehouse complained somewhere of a review that dismissed one of his books for containing "the same characters with different names." In typical Wodehousian fashion, he responded by writing a book containing the same characters with the same names. Would that L'Amour had followed either of these paths: in The Walking Drum, he varies from his typical "tormented guy fleeing past saves girl from scary deadly dude" into "tormented guy seeking dad saves girl, then another girl, then another girl, then that other girl" and leaves me wondering who'll save the girls from him.

[Molly · Rating 5 out of 5]

despite the seemingly random adventures and bumpy subplots the main character goes on, this was an exceptionally great introduction to the so-called Arab Renaissance period in early medieval history, of which I was not aware even existed before reading this!

[Terry (Ter05 TwiMoms/ MundieMoms) · Rating 5 out of 5]

I had no idea that Louis L’Amour had written a book about the middle ages. I had read some of his westerns a very long time ago and knew he was a prolific and popular author. But when a friend recommended this book to me knowing I like historical novels about this period, I decided to try it. Five Stars for sure! What incredible research had to be done to write this story of Europe and the Middle East in the 12th Century. I have not read anything from this part of the world in this time period, and it was fascinating. For one thing, this author can write a scene and the reader is there! The surroundings, whether they are on a ship on the sea, in the deep woods, in a terrifying underground tunnel in darkness, or in the beautiful home of a wealthy aristocrat, simply come alive. The feel of wearing filthy sweaty stinking clothing and the feel of fine linen and silks against your body are so real. But to the story..

This is the story of Kerbouchard who is a young Celtic in in Britain when his mother is killed while his father has been away for four years trading and raiding. His father is a famous Corsair/trader/seaman/pirate who has traveled the world and brought home knowledge and customs from other cultures. Kerbouchard was trained as a young boy by the Druids associated with his mother’s family, but also had sailed with fishing vessels and had grown up both on the sea and in the forest. He escapes the men who murdered his mother and burned their house while he was not there, but he falls into the hands of pirates and becomes a galley slave. From there his adventures span a great deal of the civilized world. A great deal of the first half or so of the book take place in Cordoba in Spain which at the time is mostly moslem and very much into learning, books, and intellectual discussion.

I will say one thing from reading the many reviews of this book. Some criticize it because Kerbouchard is telling the story and he is proficient at everything so they consider he is too perfect. For one thing this is fiction – historical fiction but Kerbouchard is a fictitious character. His background and his insatiable quest for knowledge would make such a man – if he survives. He goes from the worst poverty to wealth and back again more times than I remember. He lives by is wit, but he is on a quest from the very beginning of the book. The quest is to find and rescue his father if he still lives, which is in question.

I love history and reading this book with no prior knowledge of the area or the history was amazing. I realize I had no idea how advanced the world was at that time in things like astronomy, geology, history, medicine, and just plain theory. I definitely will re-read this book as now I can savor it instead of reading to find out what will happen. I did struggle with the names – they are all middle-eastern names and very difficult for me to keep straight.

I can’t explain the depth of character this author has created with Kerbouchard. His way of thinking and of getting out of impossible situations is very very interesting. I don’t doubt that in real life such a man in that time period and place probably would not have survived some of them, but this is an adventure story. His constant quest for knowledge is truly inspiring as I know there have been and still are people who live to learn and are more or less obsessed by it.

My favorite part of the book comes some past the half way mark. It is a trek across many countries that I lost track of as the author uses the names they were called in the 12th century. Kerbouchard’s goal is to reach a castle where his father is being held by an Assassin King, but for safety, he becomes part of a caravan of traders. This is a trek of months and months, and it is just amazing that these treks were made. I had read about others where shepherds trekked for whole seasons across Afghanistan and Iraq, and this was similar except these were merchants. They went from one Fair to another trading and buying and selling. How they guarded one another and their loyalty to each other was just wonderful to read. The battle toward the end of this trek was perhaps the best scene written and most realistic I have ever read. If ever a reader was right there in a battle, it is this one.

I did not mean for this to be so long, but this book really caught me up in the story, the history, and the writing. At the back of the book the author says he will write two more books about Kerrbouchard. Sadly, Louis L’Amour died before he wrote those books. I am so glad he wrote this one.

There is some romance as this is a young man alone with no ties to anyone. But it is totally clean and several of the women he “falls for” are above him in station, virgins, and he is an honorable man and remains so.

I have to add the fascinating thing about the title, “The Walking Drum”. Imagine over a thousand people, some on horseback, some with wagons, but most of them walking, along with cattle, goats, and sheep. They continue from morning to night when they camp only to begin the next day. They have the Fairs where they spend a few days, but month after month they march, always prepared for attack which does not happen often but does happen. From the book:

“The walking drum….a heavy, methodical beat marking the step of each of us. That drum rode on a cart at the rear of our column, and the pace of the march could be made faster or slower by that beat. We lived with that sound, all of us, it beat like a great pulse for the whole company and for those others, too, who had their own drums to keep their pace.”

“Nightly camps were each a fortress, our columns like an army on the march. We awakened to a trumpet call, marched upon a second, and all our waking days were accompanied by the rhythmic throb of the walking drum.
We heard it’s muted thunder roll against the distant hills, through sunlight and storm. That drum was our god, our lord and master, and a warning to potential enemies.”

[Sophia · Rating 5 out of 5]

When one picks up a Louis L'Amour book, nine times out of ten this will be a western. However, this is not always the case and in this instance, an epic historical fiction following a young man coming of age in the 12th century medieval world was entertaining and informative.

The dark lands of Northern Europe was home to a boy raised by a Druidic Celtic mother and a sea-fairing corsair father until the day a brigand baron sees the father is away and takes their land and kills his mother. Kerbouchard vows revenge and escapes.

First, he is taken by small time pirates in a coastal vessel as a galley slave to escape and spend time in Moorish Spain as a scholar and adventurer. A damsel in distress has him on the run. Another damsel takes him in and gives him a new start before her dangerous intrigue work has them on the run and taking up with a powerful merchant band who wind their way through Europe to the Steppes of Russia and south. The Byzantines are another intriguing lot and he finally faces off with the dreaded Assassins and their stronghold. All along the way, while Kerbouchard learns of the people, places, and what they knew in that part of the world at that time, so does the reader. What he learns most of all is that what he knows may be his salvation as adventure comes to him often.

There is a driving point to the plot, but the story meanders along in an epic journey to get there. Kerbouchard meets many people fictional and historical. He learns a true appreciation for the scholarly endeavors and enlightenment of the Arab world particularly in Moorish Spain where culture and learning are at their height in thee West while Christian Europe is still buried in darkness, academically. There are plenty of action scenes and I was amused that young Kerbouchard got into most of his trouble when a beautiful woman was around. He is drawn to strong women with brilliant minds, but moves on with little reluctance as the adventure of the road and his quest to find and free his father is his motivation.

I loved The Walking Drum, but like so many of the author's books, there isn't a satisfying denouement. When the main conflict is over, the book comes to a stop. In this case, I get what the author was doing. Kerbouchard is young and he has a quest, but much of his life is before him as is a large portion of unseen and unexplored world. He might fall into love, but his deepest love is the unknown and learning it- following the Walking Drum.

John Curless was a new to me narrator, but he was brilliant and voiced so many diverse characters well. Kerbouchard encounters so many of the world's people so that was a tall order. The tone of the scenes whether action or reflection were pitch perfect.

All I could wonder in the end was 'wow, when did L'Amour find the time to research this one among all his other great stories?' because the historical facts and details were amazing. Historical adventure fans should really give this one a go.

[Taylor Weaver · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the first and only Louis L'Amour book I've read, and I'm glad I chose this one to start with. Although the author is surely more famous for his western novels, he writes tales in this medieval setting as if he had been doing it his whole life. I enjoyed the history behind it and feeling the illusion of being educated while enjoying a good read. The main character is completely unbelievable and so are his exploits, but in a novel like this one it's a little irrational to criticize something like that. It's a classic swashbuckling adventure full of action, romance, intrigue, betrayal, and everything you'd really ever need to read about. I didn't give it five starts because although he contains so many interesting parts are wonderfully written sections, it loses its focus and balance at times. The rising tension, for example, never really reaches a single, satisfying climax, but instead the reader is treating to countless exciting moments that aren't really connected to each other. I already mentioned that it's beautifully written, but I could emphasize that a few dozen more times. For a guy who mostly wrote western novels, he's incredibly poetic and articulate. I like how he doesn't dwell on details that don't have much to do with the overall plot, but instead moves the book along at an almost overwhelming speed. It only took me a few pages and I was hooked. It did take me a while to get used to the near-infallibility of the main character, but I liked it. I was never stressed when reading the book because I knew that no matter what tight spot Kerbouchard got himself into, his absolute perfection as a human would surely see him through.