As a result of their fateful encounter at the Battle of Waterloo (the only battle in which they faced one another), the names of Napoleon Bonaparte and Arthur Wellesley, Duke of Wellington, will always be inextricably linked, and there may be a tendency to think of them as great rivals or lifelong adversaries. As historian Andrew Roberts illustrated in Napoleon and Wellington, however, you can compare them, contrast them, look at the parallels in their lives all you want, but you can’t make that argument – Napoleon did not have much to say about Wellington, and while one was a successful general in a democracy, the other was an Emperor as well as being the most successful military leader of his generation. All of this underscores how ambitious it is of Simon Scarrow to embark on a four-book series of novels offering fictionalised accounts of both Napoleon and Wellington’s entire lives from birth onwards (both were born in 1769), and following the courses of their entire careers.

In effect, Scarrow is actually writing two sets of books here – one about Napoleon, one about Wellington. In the first volume, Young Bloods, he cheekily suggested the two may have met as military cadets, but that apart, it is hard to see how their paths can cross before the Battle of Waterloo, which will presumably occupy a substantial part of the final volume in the series. Nowhere is this more true than in this second volume: while Colonel Wellesley (as he then was) spends much of the book in India, developing his military skills, Napoleon is variously in Egypt, Italy, Paris and the Swiss Alps, and their actions have little direct bearing on each other; Scarrow throws in the occasional reference to Wellesley looking at newspaper reports about Napoleon’s meteoric rise, but if you took those out, you would have an enjoyable ‘fictional biography’ of each character that was entirely self-contained.

Having said that, the periodic changes of focus from one central character to the other certainly keep things interesting, and overall it’s a very enjoyable book, with considerably more action than the first volume. The pace is well-managed – some battles get detailed descriptions, while other episodes have to be glossed over quickly, but this does not make things feel rushed. Fans of Bernard Cornwell’s Sharpe series will probably enjoy reading new perspectives on actions described in those novels – particularly a bungled night attack on a wood prior to the assault on Seringapatam, and the Battle of Assaye, where Wellington really made his name and which is so central to the whole career of Richard Sharpe.

The subject matter does bring out a flaw in Scarrow that is not evident in his Macro and Cato series of Roman Legionary novels. Because he is writing about significant historical characters, rather than invented ones, he sometimes goes over-the-top when signposting defining moments in their lives. Perhaps I am over-sensitive to it because I feel I know a lot about the characters, Wellington especially, from my other reading, and it is of course important to understand the attitudes and opinions of the central characters and what shaped them. I just felt it could have been done with a little bit more subtlety, though I am sure it’s hard to please all your readers in this situation.

All in all, I have really enjoyed the first two volumes of the Revolution series, and I can’t wait to read the next one. Scarrow has clearly done a vast amount of research, which shines through in the books. The prose is generally effective and seldom overblown, and while the author acknowledges he has taken a few liberties with the chronology for narrative convenience, this will not distract most readers from an enjoyable historical tale of politics, war and grand strategy. Scarrow should be commended both for his ambition, and for having the ability to back it up.

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