Brigadier Gerard: The Complete Collection: The 18 Adventures / Uncle Bernac / A Foreign Office Romance

Canongate Classics

by Arthur Conan Doyle

This volume contains the 18 adventures (in chronological order of publication, including the last one, The Marriage of the Brigadier), of one of Arthur Conan Doyle's most beloved character: Brigadier Gerard. All with the original 40+ illustrations prepared for the beautiful original editions.

It also contains a novel, Uncle Bernac, in which Gerard appears as a major character in this short novel, which deals with the return of an exiled French aristocrat.

Finally, it includes the short story ""A Foreign Office Romance", not a Gerard story but clearly prefigures the series in structure, character and theme.

This French officer of the Napoleonic army, is considered one of Doyle's most iconic characters, together with Sherlock Holmes and Professor Challenger.

The complete stories included are:

BOOK ONE: THE EXPLOITS OF BRIGADIER GERARD
1. HOW THE BRIGADIER WON HIS MEDAL
2. HOW THE BRIGADIER HELD THE KING
3. HOW THE KING HELD THE BRIGADIER
4. HOW THE BRIGADIER SLEW THE BROTHERS OF AJACCIO
5. HOW THE BRIGADIER CAME TO THE CASTLE OF GLOOM
6. HOW THE BRIGADIER TOOK THE FIELD AGAINST THE MARSHAL MILLEFLEURS
7. HOW THE BRIGADIER WAS TEMPTED BY THE DEVIL
8. HOW THE BRIGADIER PLAYED FOR A KINGDOM
BOOK TWO: THE ADVENTURES OF GERARD

9. HOW THE BRIGADIER SLEW THE FOX
[THE CRIME OF THE BRIGADIER]
10. HOW BRIGADIER GERARD LOST HIS EAR
11. HOW THE BRIGADIER SAVED THE ARMY
12. HOW THE BRIGADIER RODE TO MINSK
13. HOW THE BRIGADIER BORE HIMSELF AT WATERLOO—
THE STORY OF THE FOREST INN
14. HOW THE BRIGADIER BORE HIMSELEF AT WATERLOO—
THE STORY OF THE NINE PRUSSIAN HORSEMEN
15. HOW THE BRIGADIER TRIUMPHED IN ENGLAND
16. HOW THE BRIGADIER CAPTURED SARAGOSSA
(HOW THE BRIGADIER JOINED THE HUSSARS OF CONFLANS)
17. THE LAST ADVENTURE OF THE BRIGADIER
18. THE MARRIAGE OF THE BRIGADIER

BOOK THREE: UNCLE BERNAC (a novel):
A MEMORY OF THE EMPIRE

BOOK FOUR
A Foreign Office Romance (short story)

Genres: Fiction, Historical Fiction, Short Stories, Classics, Historical, War, Adventure

550 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 1995

About the author

Sir Arthur Ignatius Conan Doyle was a Scottish writer and physician. He created the character Sherlock Holmes in 1887 for A Study in Scarlet, the first of four novels and fifty-six short stories about Holmes and Dr. Watson. The Sherlock Holmes stories are milestones in the field of crime fiction.

Doyle was a prolific writer. In addition to the Holmes stories, his works include fantasy and science fiction stories about Professor Challenger, and humorous stories about the Napoleonic soldier Brigadier Gerard, as well as plays, romances, poetry, non-fiction, and historical novels. One of Doyle's early short stories, "J. Habakuk Jephson's Statement" (1884), helped to popularise the mystery of the brigantine Mary Celeste, found drifting at sea with no crew member aboard.

Reviews

[Lynne King · Rating 5 out of 5]

This selection of short stories is Arthur Conan Doyle at his best. I loved these as a teenager, then read the book years later and, as I look at this book now (thanks to another Goodreads author asking a question about Sherlock Holmes), I never cease to be amazed at the wonderful authors we have had and now continue to have in this world.

These short stories to quote the blurb: "Dumas's Four Musketeers all in one ... Don Quixote inextricably entangled with Sancho Panza... Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's Brigadier Gerard stories surely constitute the finest series of historical short stories in literature, mingling the comedy and the tragedy, the pathos and the irony, or, in Napoleon's phrase, the sublime and the ridiculous. It is Napoleon and his Europe, his dedicated followers and the awakened nationalisms of the peoples they enraged, possessing our minds in savage realism and enrapturing romance..."

I couldn't have put that better myself.

Regrettably, I have to do a translation now. I would rather read this book...

[Ian · Rating 5 out of 5]

A brilliant series of stories about Brigadier Gerard, a French cavalryman in the Napoleonic wars, who by his own reckoning was "the finest horseman in all six brigades of light cavalry, and the best swordsman in the entire Grande Armee". His vanity gives you an idea of Conan Doyle's view of French arrogance, but he is nonetheless an extremely likeable hero. The stories cover a wide range of settings, from the Peninsular War, the retreat from Moscow, Gerard's imprisonment in England, Waterloo, and even an attempt to rescue Napoleon from St. Helena. Highly recommended.

[Commander Law · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Brigadier should be better known.

[Riddhiman · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book highlights the comic side of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. The Brigadier Gerard stories mostly take a satirical look at a fictitious soldier in the Napoleanic army through the reminescences of his soldiering days. The character is undoubtedly brave, but a bit boastful and does not have one of the brightest minds. His character is best summed up by Napoleon in the story 'How The Brigadier Won his Medal'. He says, "You will see, that Brigadier Gerard has the special medal of honour, for I believe that if he has the thickest head, he also has the stoutest heart in my army".

This is the general mood of the book, 'The Exploits of Brigadier Gerard'. However, things change in 'The Adventures of Gerard', which was written later. Here, Doyle drops the satirical angle and presents some thrilling stories. Stories 'How the Brigadier Captured Saragossa' and 'How The Brigadier saved the Army' are simply brilliant. Doyle's approach is that of historical fiction, mirrorring Sir Walter Scott's works, which follows the general outlines of history, does not contradict it, yet spins a fictional tale, with fictitious characters, combined with real ones.
Works like these are lesser known, thereby proving the fact that why Doyle was concerned about Sherlock Holmes overshadowing his other creations.

[Jc · Rating 5 out of 5]

For the Doyle fan, for fans of military history, for fans of Napoleonic history, or just for people who like to read rollicking Victorian adventure stories tinged with a bit of comedy, I highly recommend these stories. Brig. Gerard is the third and maybe least known of Doyle's reoccurring characters (after Holmes and Prof. Challenger). Gerard is an old man, a pensioner hanging out, drinking wine, and telling stories of his youthful bravery in the armies of the Emperor. However, the reader finds that Gerard’s image of his own heroism may be a bit off the mark. The Gerard stories run from early in Napoleon's first conquest of Europe, to the time of the Emperor’s dying days at St. Helena. And our Brigadier was always in the middle of it. A fun read.

[Old-Barbarossa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Before Flash Harry there was Gerard. Like Conan in a hussar's uniform...but not the sharpest sabre in the armoury. Great Napoleonic escapism.

[LJ · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have read quite a lot of Doyle over the years and this is by far his most fun work. This book collects together all his Etienne Gerard short stories (plus one random story at the start about a differently named character but in the same style so I guess a sort of prototype of Gerard). The editor has added some historical context at the start of each story but I found this actually confused me far more than just reading the stories alone so I skipped them on a second read. The stories jump about in time and I found that this added to their charm.

The set-up is that you're sitting in a French café listening to an old man tell you tales of his youth as a mounted soldier in the Napoleonic wars. Gerard is an unreliable narrator on two fronts, one because you don't know how much he is exaggerating or making up in his stories (he's exceedingly vain), and two because he is an idiot and misconstrues certain situations which are clear to the audience, so you get this satirical humour at his expense. However personally I didn't enjoy these moments so much. It's hard to believe that Gerard is such an idiot when he shows so much cunning and quick thinking in dangerous or tricky situations. I think the idea is that he is gullible and too trusting, but it still didn't really gel with his clear intelligence shown in other situations. Sometimes the satire can almost be a little sour, as Gerard casually mentions the looting and 'womanising' that goes on during war as if it is perfectly acceptable, although he has the decency to not revel in death and generally goes out of his way not to kill people if possible. The stories certainly are funny, although they didn't make me laugh aloud, more just gently amused, but by far what I appreciate about them is how damn exciting they are. Although there is a little repetition of situation in a couple of the tales, mostly they are all surprisingly different and inventive and also incredibly thrilling as Gerard gets into some dangerous and seemingly impossible scrape and you excitedly read on to see how he will get out of this one.

I did skip one story because it is about fox hunting, although Gerard manages to mention how he killed the fox in practically every subsequent story, so I'm not sure how much I saved myself there. The joke seems to be that Gerard doesn't understand English 'sports' but thinks he does, but that joke will be somewhat lost on a modern audience. There is one particular story in which he is in England and there are several gags to this nature which I feel press the point a little too heavily and the joke gets tired. The first time I read these stories I was pretty furious that Doyle bothered to reintroduce the character of Bart only to kill him off, but since I was prepared a second time around, it didn't bother me that much. It also seemed clumsy that both Bart stories have villains who use the same scheme to trick the hero. Aside from that though, I really enjoyed these stories.

[Joe Stack · Rating 4 out of 5]

The stories in this collection are filled with action, romantic dalliances, swordplay, intrigue, unexpected twists. The main character is swashbuckling, has some conceit, and a lot of bravado. I’m surprised that this collection hasn’t been turned into a tv series. The stories read like one.

Doyle’s writing is highly descriptive. Doyle is famous for Sherlock Holmes, but without Holmes these stories would earn Doyle a deservingly good reputation as a writer and storyteller who excels with the short story.

I thought the best takes involved Napoleon’s retreat. The tables have turned on the French; the occupier becomes the hunted. This heightens the danger to the exploits of Gerard.

A nice aspect to this collection is that these are adventure stories of the Napoleonic wars from the perspective of a French officer. Doyle’s choice not to to tell these tales from the perspective of an Englishman; thus, the French are not villainous and Gerard is a likable, sympathetic character. And the English attachment to fox hunting and cricket as related by Gerard is fun.

[Martin Pilkington · Rating 4 out of 5]

There is one character that you associate with Conan Doyle, and for most of us, I expect, it's not Brigadier Etienne Gerard. Or Professor George Edward Challenger for that matter, but that might be for another review.

Here we have the complete collection of stories about a fictional French Brigadier Of Hussars set around the Napoleonic Wars. Gerard is convinced that he's the best and bravest soldier that Napoleon ever had and the greatest lover that has ever been. Conan Doyle uses Gerard to satirise both the English view of the French and English manners and attitudes, not least in terms of sport.

And at the same time you get a view of the Napoleonic wars, admittedly through a very biased pair of eyes, that could leave the reader better informed about what was going in throughout the period.

For stories that were written between 1894 and 1903 the stories hold up very well in a modern world.

[Michael · Rating 4 out of 5]

Move over Sherlock! The Brigadier Gerard may be one of A.C. Doyle's most fully realized characters.  Unlike Holmes, who, delightful as he is, is two dimensional at best, the Brigadier is a fully fleshed out man with all of the baggage that goes along with it.  As he sits in his cafe surrounded by friends sipping wine, spinning yarns about his old days in the Great Army, Gerard has more than a little in common with Mr. Mulliner of the Angler's Rest.  His stories range from laugh-out-loud comic, to deeply tragic, to the silently poignant, but at the center of them all are the stirring adventures of the Brigadier, "all spurs and mustaches, with never a thought beyond women and horses."  He will win your admiration and your affections if you give him the chance.  Highly recommended.

[Van Roberts · Rating 5 out of 5]

Doyle At His Best!

Mind you, I’ve read all the Sherlock novels & short stories and the Professor Challenger yarns, but I prefer the Brigadier above them. Blasphemy you may say! Before I read the Brigadier, I had no idea how incredibly humorous these adventures would be. I feel that Etienne Gerard is a character with greater depth than Holmes and more charismatic than Challenger. Each tale is a dwarf epic! Doyle must have had a blast writing these Gerard escapades. The twists and turns and the protagonist’s pomposity are exciting, suspenseful, and amusing. Why France, Britain and Hollywood haven’t made dozens of remakes of it rather than the Holmes mysteries-sterling stuff—puzzles me.

[Faith Poetry · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Adventures and Exploits of Brigadier Gerard are a worth equal to Sherlock Holmes!
The first tale is by far the most comic, and at each story I laughed heartily at the way that Gerard blundered gallantly through his adventures, but in time I came to respect this conceited little officer. His conceit gave him confidence. His confidence gave him perseverance, and his perseverance gave him success where a humbler man would have failed. I’m sorry to finish this book. It was hilarious and heartbreaking at the same time. An artful collection of comic moments and the reality of the turbulent times people lived through in the Napoleonic era.

[Robin Smith · Rating 5 out of 5]

Reading this book for a man-boy of a certain age is like relaxing in a warm bath. Brigadier Gerard is a sublime example of a Briton’s view of a French Napoleonic hero. Completely convinced of his superiority, ridiculously brave, gallant towards the ladies, and au fond, honorable. These are such wonderful stories of ingenious and often thrilling adventures, all written with such style and with accurate portrayals of the WW2-equivalent saga of Conan Doyle’s age, the Napoleonic wars. I have read these stories many times, man and boy, and each time they seem to provide a new pleasure. There’s a lot more to Doyle than Holmes.

[Ek Hau · Rating 5 out of 5]

Picked up the book, thinking that other authors are using the famous Arthur Conan Doyle, as i've never heard of him writing about a brigadier before.
But what a pleasant surprise it turned out to be !
From the prologue, of a spy story, it continued to hook me till the end, though it can be repetitive at times.
The protagonist doesn't always wins, and the Fleur Mille resembled my wannabe altered ego of a flambouyant Don Juan ;)
All in, a good read.

[Dale · Rating 3 out of 5]

I had never heard of this book and for good reason. Serialized for newspaper publication the story follows the exploits of French Brigadier Gerard as he fight through the Napoleonic Wars. The old Brigadier tells his tale at a pub, probably seeking free drinks.

[Mike · Rating 5 out of 5]

A very breezy and easy on the mind read. The protagonist is a very likeable character with much self-praise. Towards the end you feel that heart-rending that that chapter is going to be the last in this book. Very enjoyable.

[Viktor · Rating 5 out of 5]

Simply amazing and entertaining

[Kim · Rating 4 out of 5]

Such a fun character!

[James Duffy · Rating 2 out of 5]

Diluted Don Quixote?

I absolutely loved Sherlock Holmes series- One of my favourite books of all time is Don Quixote. So when I heard about this book I was really excited but I think maybe I was expecting too much from this?

I found it not very exciting- Gerard's grandiose view of himself and his pompous attitude is funny at certain points. In fact even when he is being humble he is still praising himself! However it can get a bit repetitive.

The stories themselves were quite fun and the book to read as a whole flowed very easily. Truthfully I would border my review to about 2.5 stars. Before reading this book if you want to read Arthur Conan Doyle read Sherlock Holmes series- Other than that, save yourself from the watered down version of this book and read Don Quixote you won't be disappointed!

[John Fullerton · Rating 4 out of 5]

All I can really say is that as far as I can recollect, this is the first book I ever read without pictures. I was at boarding school at the time, I suppose around the age of 10 or 11, and every week my godmother sent me a wonderful package of comics which I devoured greedily before passing them on to my friends. I loved the smell of fresh newsprint, the crisp paper. The Beano, Eagle, Boys' Own etc. My mother disapproved. She thought comics bad for my mind. What mind, you may ask. While on holiday, she dragged me into a bookshop and told me that I could buy any book I wanted, provided it had no illustrations. I pounced on this - it was a big, heavy hardback with a bright red cover and a white outline of Napoleon. I kept it by my bed. I read it whenever I could. I was so captivated by the adventures of Brigadier Gerard that I wanted to share them and pitilessly pursued members of my family, recounting each adventure until my mother, in exasperation, told me I could go on receiving my comics every week provided I left her alone and stopped telling her and other relatives these stories. Which goes to show that the language is simple enough, the narrative drive strong enough, that even a boy otherwise busy with airgun, catapult and fishing rod can be immobilised into doing nothing other than consume five hundred pages of Napoleonic warfare.

[Artamon · Rating 3 out of 5]

The book is not particularly historically correct, for it's exclusevely tells fictional stories from the point of view of a french brigadier during napoleonic wars and doesn't let him take part in any major battle or operation. The short stories picture rather personal preferences and the view of the european history of Mr. Conan Doyle. The nations are pictured very steriotypically, so the French are some kind of careless romantics, the Germans - featherbrained but good soldiers, Spaniards - fanatic savages, the Russians - stupid and undisciplined brigands, and only the British (what a surprise) are righteous and noble.
But nevertheless it's funny reading...

[Jota Houses · Rating 4 out of 5]

Su prólogo; una historia que puede considerarse precursora de las aventuras de Gerard y un historia sobre su compromiso que no aporta demasiado son las únicas partes que me faltaban tras haber leído por separado las "Hazañas" y las "Aventuras".
Las aventuras del brigadier Gerard no se terminan en un solo libro. En éste sabremos porqué su nombre despierta más odio en el ejercito británico que el de ningún otro oficial francés; cómo se ganó el respeto de su regimiento en Zaragoza o qué hizo durante la batalla de Waterloo entre otras hazañas. Otro clásico.

[Marco Ocram · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of my favourite books- I must have read it ten times. It is a series of thrilling and funny short stories all recounted by an elderly Frenchman who had been a brigadier in Napoleon's light cavalry. The writing is superb, the plots are full of twists and turns, but best of all is the character of the Brigadier, who is extremely conceited, brave as a lion, sex-mad, but at the same time only averagely endowed with wits, and the humour all flows from his grossly distorted view of his own competence. Absolutely amazing. Much better than the Sherlock Holmes stories.

[Akshay Sankar · Rating 5 out of 5]

An absolute riot.

I had my doubts, starting on it after I'd read the masterpiece of Doyle's that is Sherlock Holmes. But I was pleasantly surprised to see none of Doyle's caliber was lost on Gerard. In fact, I found the book incredibly funny. Every story was meticulously detailed, and Doyle's legendary narrative added to the pleasure.

[Cait · Rating 3 out of 5]

Wasn't expecting to enjoy this as much as I did - the stories were very funny and my lack of knowledge of the time period didn't spoil my enjoyment.

Love how Gerard is so pompous and thinks so highly of himself.

Some of the stories reminded me of Blackadder.

Preferred 'The Exploits of Brigadier Gerard' to 'The Adventures of Brigadier Gerard'.

[Pepper · Rating 4 out of 5]

A really good read.

Reminded my of the Flashman books.

[Iain Patton · Rating 4 out of 5]

Swashbuckling action and revelry. Marvellous !!

[Donna R · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have a soft spot for Brigadier Etienne Gerard, illustrations added to my enjoyment.

[Jon Newswanger · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's not Sherlock.

Quirky, humorous (but not too much). On the whole a fun read.

[Centenaryman · Rating 5 out of 5]

Funny, charming, an absolute gem