The Exploits and Adventures of Brigadier Gerard

By Arthur Conan Doyle
Introduction by George MacDonald Fraser

Having killed off Sherlock Holmes, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle began a new series of tales on a very different theme. Brigadier Gerard is an officer in Napoleon's army—recklessly brave, engagingly openhearted, and unshakable, if not a little absurd, in his devotion to the enigmatic Emperor. The Brigadier's wonderful comic adventures, long established in the affections of Conan Doyle's admirers as second only to those of the incomparable Holmes, are sure to find new devotees among the ardent fans of such writers as Patrick O'Brian and George MacDonald Fraser.

Read the introduction (PDF)

Reviews

In its pages you will find adventure, action, romance, love and self-sacrifice, hair's-breadth escape and reckless courage, gallantry, panache and a droll, backhand humor that rivals that of P.G. Wodehouse. You will also find yourself, even more than with the celebrated stories of Holmes and Watson, in the hands of an indisputable artist. For more than any other adventure stories I know, these stories have a power to move the reader.
— Michael Chabon on NPR's "You Must Read This"

...One of the cleverest of Conan Doyle's lighter works, full of spirit, ingenuity, and drollery.
— The New York Times

The gusto and innocence of a golden age permeate the 'Napoleonic' stories of Conan Doyle. Adventures are thrilling, even gory, without in any way suggesting horror and violence as we know them today. Sex is imperious and delightful—how should it be otherwise in the life of a gallant Frenchman?... No one, young or old, can fail to be hilariously alive in Etienne Gerard's company.
— Elizabeth Longford

Brigadier Gerard is, after Holmes and Watson, Conan Doyle's most successful literary creation.
— Julian Symons

Sign up for our free email newsletters for updates and special offers on NYRB books.