Arthur Conan Doyle

The Exploits of Brigadier Gerard

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Produktbeschreibung

The Exploits of Brigadier Gerard By Arthur Conan Doyle Brigadier Gerard is the comedic hero of a series of 17 historical short stories, a play, and a major character in a novel by the British writer Arthur Conan Doyle. By far the most entertaining of all of Doyle's characters, Brigadier Etienne Gerard is a Hussar officer in the French Army during the Napoleonic Wars. Gerard's most notable attribute is his vanity - he is utterly convinced that he is the bravest soldier, greatest swordsman, most accomplished horseman and most gallant lover in all France. Gerard is not entirely wrong, since he displays notable bravery on many occasions, but his self-satisfaction undercuts this quite often. Obsessed with honour and glory, he is always ready with a stirring speech or a gallant remark to a lady.Conan Doyle, in making his hero a vain, and often rather uncomprehending, Frenchman, was able to satirise both the stereotypical English view of the French and - by presenting them from Gerard's baffled point of view - English manners and attitudes.Gerard tells the stories from the point of view of an old man now living in retirement in Paris. We discover that he was born in Gascony in the early 1780s (he is 25 in "How the Brigadier Captured Saragossa"). In How the Brigadier Rode to Minsk he attends a review of troops about to depart for the Crimea (1854-5), and this is the last identifiable date in his life, although The Last Adventure of the Brigadier has a still later setting, with Gerard about to return to his Gascon homeland. He first joins the 2nd Hussars - the Hussars of Chamberan - around 1799, serving as a lieutenant and junior captain. He first sees action at Marengo in Italy in 1800. He transfers to the 3rd Hussars of Conflans in 1807 as a senior captain. He speaks somewhat idiosyncratic English, having learned it from an officer of the Irish Brigade of the French Army. By 1810 he is colonel of the 2nd Hussars. He serves in Spain, Portugal, Italy, Germany and Russia. He is awarded the Grand-Cross of the Légion d'honneur by Napoleon in 1814. There are various discrepancies in the accounts of his life, not the least that in none of the stories except the last is he married.Conan Doyle modelled the comedic character of Gerard on a number of real-life sources from the Napoleonic era, writing in his author's preface that "readers of Marbot, de Gonneville, Coignet, de Fenezac, Bourgogne, and the other French soldiers who have recorded their reminiscences of the Napoleonic campaigns will recognise the fountain from which I have drawn the adventures of Etienne Gerard."

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Produktdetails

• Verlag: Les prairies numériques
• Seitenzahl: 148
• Erscheinungstermin: 27. November 2020
• Englisch
• Abmessung: 210mm x 148mm x 8mm
• Gewicht: 202g
• ISBN-13: 9782382742815
• ISBN-10: 238274281X
• Artikelnr.: 60774911

Autorenporträt

Doyle is also known as Sir Arthur Conan Doyle or "Conan Doyle", suggesting that "Conan" is the part of the title of his compound name. He was baptized in St Mary's Cathedral, Edinburgh. After baptism, he got the name "Arthur Ignatius Conan" and "Doyle" as his last name. Many other names like Michael Conan were regarded as his godfather. The indexes of the British Library and the Library of Congress treat "Doyle" alone as his last name. Sir Arthur Ignatius Conan was a British essayist and doctor. He was the man behind the creation of the famous fictional detective, Sherlock Holmes in 1887 for 'A Study in Scarlet'. He had written four books and 56 brief tales about Holmes and Dr. Watson. The Sherlock Holmes stories are achievements in the field of thriller fiction. Doyle was a famous essayist. Other than Holmes stories, his works include fantasy and sci-fi anecdotes about Professor Challenger and hilarious tales about the Napoleonic fighter Brigadier Gerard, as well as plays.

Foto: Wikipedia