To Do and Die

by Patrick Mercer

The historical fiction debut from former soldier, BBC defence correspondent and MP, Patrick Mercer, is a thrilling military action set during the Crimean War.

1854. War is imminent as the Western powers quarrel with Russia over fragments of the crumbling Ottoman empire. Wanting to prove himself to a father who will not let him forget about his own self-proclaimed military glories, Officer Tony Morgan is keen to set sail. Meanwhile, the Morgan's chambermaid, Mary, whom Tony loves but cannot marry, has wedded another officer in his company and will be accompanying the regiment to the front as a nurse.

Arriving at Sebastapol in the Crimea, the company's first engagement with the Russians fill the company with a short-lived confidence. Morgan is eager to show himself a worthy leader, but in the face of several bloody engagements which decimate the company, he finds himself shaken to the core by the brutality of war. He also has to quell potential mutiny against the cowardly subaltern Carmichael, whose first instincts are always to save his own skin. His romantic longings for Mary are revived after her husband is severely injured and she nevertheless proves herself a noble and brave addition to the company. Facing dire conflict on the battlefield and off, within his company and within himself, Morgan is going to be tested to the limits…

In his fiction debut, Mercer’s twenty years of military service is all there on the page. His mastery of both the broad sweep and the finer details of military engagement is superb and bound to make an impact with military action fans. His characterisation of the regiment is wholly persuasive and he nails soldier psychology, slang and the interactions up and down the chain of command with deceptive ease. This is probably the closest any of us will get to being in a battle.

Genres: Historical Fiction, Historical, Military Fiction

503 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 2009

About the author

Born in 1956, Patrick Mercer read History at Oxford University before joining the Army. He commanded his battalion in Bosnia and Canada. Previously receiving a gallantry commendation, he was awarded the OBE in 1997. In 1999, Patrick Mercer accepted a post as the Defence Reporter for the Today Programme. In the 2001 election, he won the Tory seat in Newark. A respected historian, he has already published a non-fiction account of the Inkerman battle during the Crimean War.

Reviews

[[ J o ] · Rating 2 out of 5]

Total cover buy and I still own it because he looks like a ginger Simon Neil from Biffy Clyro and I can't quite get myself to throw it out. Look at that uniform.

And I recall nothing of the book, which I think is a very good thing.

[Jason · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not bad, ok battle scenes but they where few and far between and some were too short to pointless. I found the pacing a bit disjointed and the characters i wanted to like more but found pretty stale. The downtime and camp life was nothing new but seems to be a main focus of the book and let down the story immensely.

[Robert Hepple · Rating 4 out of 5]

Published in 2010, 'To Do and Die' is an adventure story set against the background of a regiment in the British Army during the Crimean War. I had heard from some sources that the story was a little slow in getting going, but I didn't find this at all. There are some slow sequences, which have a purpose in that rare thing called character development and I found that it worked well for me. An it was good to learn a little about the Crimean War - clearly a lot more happened than the Charge of the Light Brigade! Enjoyable.

[Leigh · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 STARS! I enjoy this book and found it insightful into a conflict I know very little about. I just found that it moved a bit slower than it could have. I loved the attempt from the author to voice and portray the psychological effects of warfare on the soldiers. Looking forward to reading the next in the series!

[Nigel Lawrence · Rating 5 out of 5]

Attractive story-telling from this politician.

[Andrew · Rating 3 out of 5]

Somewhat dry. Kept comparing it to Cornwell's work. Battlefield scenes were okay, but not the most enthralling I've ever read. I daresay Mercer will get better as he writes more books.

[David · Rating 1 out of 5]

Despite a promising start, if I'm honest, I actually found this book quite hard to get into. Never really grabbed me in the way, say, a Sharpe novel does despite having a similar theme: a tale about soldiers in the midst of a war (in this case, the Crimea).

I don't think the writing style really helped either, which I found could be quite dense and needlessly convoluted, and the heavy emphasis on the vernacular of the time also meant that it was quite easy to lose track of what was going on or what the characters were even talking about!

All in all, unfortunately, not really that impressed by this book.

[Marcus · Rating 3 out of 5]

slow start was even thinking of given up but by charpher 4 i got caught up an wanted to see wat happen. this book didnt grip me like Bernard Cornwells Starbuck chronicles because of the slow drawing out pace which was far from griping. but in away it held me to find out the out come of Anthony Morgan

[Chris · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this. It had a rare un-polished feel to it. Maybe that was because it was the author's debut book, but it gave it a more real, gritty feel and really brought to life the filth and horror of the Crimean war.

[Tom · Rating 3 out of 5]

My first foray into the crimean war, fascinating albeit bloody stuff and frankly not a bad debut from a 'from former soldier, BBC defence correspondent and MP' - more please.

[D4ngerousBeans · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great book , quite like the Bernard Cornwell "Sharpe books" , but the descriptions are a bit more graphic , learned a lot about the crimea war , in this first of a trilogy .

[Daniel · Rating 2 out of 5]

I stuck with it. Found it a drag at times but dont like to give up. Not sure if i will even attempt any of the others.