More exciting ups and downs than a white knuckle Roller Coaster ride. – Another cracking instalment in the Kydd and Renzi Saga from international best selling author Julian Stockwin – Most Highly Recommended.
NAME: Persephone FILE: R2541 AUTHOR: Julian Stockwin PUBLISHER: Hodder & Stoughton BINDING: hard back PAGES: 398 PRICE: £18.99 GENRE: Fiction SUBJECT: Denmark, Iceland, France, Royal Navy, Nore, Tyger, frigate, Napoleonic Wars, London, Society, Sir Thomas Kydd, Renzi, Copenhagen, Persephone Lockwood
ISBN: 978-1-473-64090-0
IMAGE: B2541.jpg6 BUYNOW: http://tinyurl.com/yalq47wr LINKS: DESCRIPTION: More exciting ups and downs than a white knuckle Roller Coaster ride. - Another cracking instalment in the Kydd and Renzi Saga from international best selling author Julian Stockwin – Most Highly Recommended. This is an occasion of doubles. This exciting new story features the character Persephone Lockwood in the second book to be titled for her, her first outing being as “The Admiral's Daughter”. This publication also marks a change of pace with Julian Stockwin writing two books for release on 2017, the second instalment in the saga to be published later this year. “Persephone” is the 18th instalment in the Kydd and Renzi Saga and it is as fresh and enchanting as the first instalment “Kydd” all those years ago. As the saga has unfolded with each new book, it has exposed new layers to each of the characters. Over the years they have deepened and grown, as has the readership. This reviewer has reviewed each of the books and grown to look forward to the next story as keenly as any fan. From this experience, the reviewer would urge any new reader to enjoy this book, but then go out and buy all the previous books in the series. Each new story can stand on its own, but the reading of the complete series adds to the enjoyment and understanding as it brings the characters into three dimensions in a way that a single book cannot manage. The challenge for a reviewer is to say enough about the new book that the review fairly reveals the quality of the author's work, but without spoiling the readers' enjoyment in discovering how the twists and turns, the range of emotions and the suspense and excitement all come together to make a cracking good yarn. All established readers of the stories will find many characters that they have come to enjoy from earlier books. There are new characters, heroes and villains, but above all there are interesting pieces of information that are important elements of history that have somehow escaped most historians. The author displays his knowledge and love of the sea and ships and a great attention to research and detail that is crafted into the tale as natural components. The book is written to entertain, but also it educates with some fascinating information and insights. In fairness to the other great writers of Napoleonic War naval fiction, writing past Trafalgar is a major challenge because it was such an iconic part of British history and integral to the myth and legend of its great hero Nelson. It is not only writers of fiction who have faced this challenge and been defeated, but also the body of historians. This is a great shame because naval warfare did not end at Trafalgar. True, the British Fleet had comprehensively vanquished the combined fleets of France and Spain. Those navies, individually or in concert would never be able to again confront the Royal Navy. It was not just an outstanding naval victory for the British, but it reinforced the naval superiority established in the Seven Years War a half century earlier when the Royal Navy dominated the waves. For historians, not much happened at sea after Trafalgar until the arms race between Britain and Germany at the start of the Twentieth Century, an apparent century of peace bought by Nelson and his Band of Brothers. The reality was very different. The Dash For Empire was only possible because the Royal Navy had won naval superiority and maintained it. There were also many more important naval events before the final defeat of Napoleon at Waterloo. Stockwin has done a great service by meeting and winning the challenge of Trafalgar and continuing the story of Kydd and his great friend Renzi beyond 1805. In “Tyger”, he wove in the story of the heroic fight of Generalleutnant Graf von Hohenlau and his Prussian Division against French Divisions commanded in the field personally by Napoleon. The Prussian's Russian allies broke and ran, allowing the French to encircle the Prussians. That did not deter von Hohenlau who broke through the encirclement and fought his way to the Baltic coast. He then sent a messenger to the Royal Navy escort commander with the annual British Baltic trading convoy and asked for help in evacuating his troops off the beaches. Britain and Prussia were not allies but the British commander agreed to help and all but a small gallant rearguard protecting the evacuation were lifted off the beaches and carried the Prussians to their temporary capital. Although Prussia was then defeated by the French, the Prussians rose at the first opportunity and allied themselves to Britain. That might never have happened had not von Hohenlau been helped by the Royal Navy. It meant that their Prussian allies rode to the aid of the British at a critical point in the Battle of Waterloo, playing a decisive part in the ultimate defeat of Napoleon. In this new tale, Stockwin has provided so much in one book. He has provided an absorbing view of Society and politics in Britain at the time and he has taken the story of what happened after the British attack on neutral Denmark with the changes in Iceland's fortunes all of that being part of the background canvas to the drama of Kydd's pursuit of Persephone Lockwood. Those who have read “The Admiral's Daughter” will remember that the earlier pursuit of Persephone did not go well for Kydd romantically, although his efforts to claw back from disaster did in fact help his naval career forward. Did this second pursuit succeed? Well you will only know by rushing out and buying this fantastic new tale. It will be a very enjoyable experience.