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Captain Rawson #4
Under Siege
In the wake of victory at Oudenarde, career soldier Captain Daniel Rawson must take a leading role in the Allies' new strategy - to invade further into French territories and lay siege to Lille, the 'pearl of its fortresses'. He fights alongside the Duke of Marlborough, whose position and safety abroad are threatened by politicians in England plotting his downfall - and by his outspoken and treasonous wife, Sarah. Meanwhile, Captain Rawson must contend with a new rival for his beloved, the beautiful Amalia Janssen, rescue his comrade-in-arms, Henry Welbeck, and avoid capture by ruthless French soldiers.
351 pages, Hardcover
First published November 1, 2010
8 people are currently reading
109 people want to read
About the author
Edward Marston
239 books466 followersLibrarian Note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.
A pseudonym used by Keith Miles
AKA A.E. Marston
Keith Miles (born 1940) is an English author, who writes under his own name and also historical fiction and mystery novels under the pseudonym Edward Marston. He is known for his mysteries set in the world of Elizabethan theatre. He has also written a series of novels based on events in the Domesday Book, a series of The Railway Detective and a series of The Home Front Detective.
Series contributed to:
. Malice Domestic
. Crime Through Time
. Perfectly Criminal
A pseudonym used by Keith Miles
AKA A.E. Marston
Keith Miles (born 1940) is an English author, who writes under his own name and also historical fiction and mystery novels under the pseudonym Edward Marston. He is known for his mysteries set in the world of Elizabethan theatre. He has also written a series of novels based on events in the Domesday Book, a series of The Railway Detective and a series of The Home Front Detective.
Series contributed to:
. Malice Domestic
. Crime Through Time
. Perfectly Criminal
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Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews
October 11, 2013
This is the third Daniel Rawson book I have read by Edward Marston. I got all three books as part of a set, very cheaply and I still think I was "done". All credit to Mr Marston, he has completed the series and got them published. But my view of all three books is very poor. The plot in all three books is shallow, the characters childlike and just a very poor read. I'm afraid Mr Marston is not a patch on Bernard Cornwell who has written an excellent range of similar books based around historic events.
August 21, 2020
Nothing good here. What was a good series has become a bad soap opera where the hero must continually rescue damsels and turn down lots of sex. Battles are covered in a couple of paragraphs and the characters are all rather shallow. Two stars is me being most generous. Not good.
June 21, 2020
I’ll admit, I don’t know anything about The War of the Spanish Succession and therefore nothing about the historical backdrop of this book, and in that respect I quite enjoyed learning a little although very little detail was given to the battles and real people mentioned, but it gave me an excuse to Google them and in that way I have at least sparked an interest in a time about 100 years before any previous knowledge I had of European military events.
Regarding the storey itself, this could be described as an easy read. Certainly the plot wasn’t exactly complicated with Captain Daniel Rawson the sort of adventurer who is engaged in far too easily successful clandestine spying missions and damsel in distress rescues that lack credibility. The interaction between the various characters was good fun, but I doubt for one second offered any real kind of realism to how people behaved or acted at the time.
In short, the book was kind of good fun but without offering any real insight into what life would have been actually like for people at the time and while offering a glimpse into the military history of the period, any fan of the historical period would be likely to be disappointed and anyone hoping to learn more of the period, would like me, probably learn more in twenty minutes looking at Wikipedia than reading the entire book.
Regarding the storey itself, this could be described as an easy read. Certainly the plot wasn’t exactly complicated with Captain Daniel Rawson the sort of adventurer who is engaged in far too easily successful clandestine spying missions and damsel in distress rescues that lack credibility. The interaction between the various characters was good fun, but I doubt for one second offered any real kind of realism to how people behaved or acted at the time.
In short, the book was kind of good fun but without offering any real insight into what life would have been actually like for people at the time and while offering a glimpse into the military history of the period, any fan of the historical period would be likely to be disappointed and anyone hoping to learn more of the period, would like me, probably learn more in twenty minutes looking at Wikipedia than reading the entire book.
March 12, 2018
The worst yet. This guy clearly knows absolutely nothing about the period or military life or warfare. The only thing Marston knows about siege warfare is the terms circumvallation and contravallation, which he makes special note of, but gets backwards. A fact I confirmed in 10 seconds on Google. If you can't be bothered to get in even that much effort, why bother at all?
October 25, 2017
Ummm. Wanted to read as part of a series but starting to get weak on story line and becoming very predictable.
What a shame as I had such high expectations. 😕
What a shame as I had such high expectations. 😕
December 15, 2024
Easy and exciting
February 13, 2015
This is the fourth in the Captain Daniel Rawson series and for me probably the most disappointing.
After three victories over the French army in Belgium during the Spanish War of Succession the allied forces of British and Dutch armies set out to besiege Lille, a supposedly unconquerable city. Daniel Rawson is given the task of sneaking into the city,out-witting its inhabitants and stealing the blueprints for its defences aided by a Welsh camp follower called Rachel Rees whom he had saved from molestation earliar. He must also face men from his own side who wish to kill him also
A siege by nature is a pretty static affair and for me much of the action was in a similar vein. It was largely rehashed from preceding books and too many of the characters were black and white, either good or evil. In particular Daniel was just too good to ring true. Twice he was offered sex on a plate and on both occasions he declined because he was in love with someone else, personally I would have taken to him more if he been bit more of a bounder and had bedded every woman he could get his hands on. Then at the end he is given special leave to leave the battlefield to head back to England to pursue his love. I mean "please"! What interested me most about this book was the 'courtship' between Rachel Rees and Daniel's friend Sergeant Henry Welbeck but this in the end was left frustratingly unresolved which was a real shame as it added colour to an otherwise fairly drab tale.
The main redeeming factor with the previous books in this series was the details around the Spanish War of Succession, a period in history that I will freely admit that I know little about. However, this too was largely missing from this book and hence the reason why it was IMHO inferior to those that went before. Marston may be a good writer of detective novels (friends speak highly of his Railway Detective series) but personally I don't feel that war is really his forte. Sorry.
After three victories over the French army in Belgium during the Spanish War of Succession the allied forces of British and Dutch armies set out to besiege Lille, a supposedly unconquerable city. Daniel Rawson is given the task of sneaking into the city,out-witting its inhabitants and stealing the blueprints for its defences aided by a Welsh camp follower called Rachel Rees whom he had saved from molestation earliar. He must also face men from his own side who wish to kill him also
A siege by nature is a pretty static affair and for me much of the action was in a similar vein. It was largely rehashed from preceding books and too many of the characters were black and white, either good or evil. In particular Daniel was just too good to ring true. Twice he was offered sex on a plate and on both occasions he declined because he was in love with someone else, personally I would have taken to him more if he been bit more of a bounder and had bedded every woman he could get his hands on. Then at the end he is given special leave to leave the battlefield to head back to England to pursue his love. I mean "please"! What interested me most about this book was the 'courtship' between Rachel Rees and Daniel's friend Sergeant Henry Welbeck but this in the end was left frustratingly unresolved which was a real shame as it added colour to an otherwise fairly drab tale.
The main redeeming factor with the previous books in this series was the details around the Spanish War of Succession, a period in history that I will freely admit that I know little about. However, this too was largely missing from this book and hence the reason why it was IMHO inferior to those that went before. Marston may be a good writer of detective novels (friends speak highly of his Railway Detective series) but personally I don't feel that war is really his forte. Sorry.
May 5, 2012
It seems I am very good at choosing books from a serie that isn't the first in that serie. Luckily, I seem most of the time to enjoy tem.
I saw under siege when I went to register at the library. It caught my interest because if the mention of war and the place Oudenaarde on the back, which is a city in Belgium. It is always nice to read a story which is set in places you know or have been.
Following Captain Daniel Rawson during the war against the French isn't just a war story. Captain Rawson seems to be very skilled in special missions and becomes a vital part in te siege of Lille. At the same time their is the Dutch Amalia who is herslef in a different way under siege.
This wa a suprisingly nice and interesting story to read.
I saw under siege when I went to register at the library. It caught my interest because if the mention of war and the place Oudenaarde on the back, which is a city in Belgium. It is always nice to read a story which is set in places you know or have been.
Following Captain Daniel Rawson during the war against the French isn't just a war story. Captain Rawson seems to be very skilled in special missions and becomes a vital part in te siege of Lille. At the same time their is the Dutch Amalia who is herslef in a different way under siege.
This wa a suprisingly nice and interesting story to read.
November 4, 2014
There are a lot of things happening in this "story", but no substance. Was it an action thriller. Me thinks not. I will not read this author again as I like a story with substance, not just things happening.
July 29, 2011
Not even close to the Sharpe series!
March 12, 2011
Very simplistic writing, predictable plot.
May 25, 2011
Good 4th book in the series.
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews