The Fort [Hardcover]

I have just finished this book and after a few slow chapters at the start ( I think mostly because there are a lot of characters to introduce) I found this book fascinating and hard to put down. I read about the 1st 7 Sharpe novels in the 80s and have not read any Cornwell until Azincourt last year (pretty good I thought) and now The Fort which made a nice change. I think Sharpe has been done to death and it was interesting to read another horse and musket tail that was not about the Napoleonic Wars. Also the fact that the novel sticks more or less to the actual events is v interesting - I found out an awful lot about a small, almost forgotten battle that I dont remember reading about in any book I have read on The War Of Independence. The revelations about Revere are amazing and the American admiral comes out of it looking pretty sorry as well. On the other hand the US Marines seemed to be as tough then as now. Pleased to see in the reviews that at least one American who has read this is open minded. Americans should be able to take this read on the chin as they did win the war with a little help from their continental friends

A very entertaining read - maybe Cornwell should consider going the whole hog and dabbling in a little factual history writing.

Another year has passed and another Cornwell novel has arrived. And this year we have a standalone novel which focuses on the `forgotten' Penobscot Expedition, one of the lesser well known conflicts of the American War of Independence.

In recent years, fans of Cornwell have increasingly clamoured for him to return to the highly praised Starbuck Chronicles or for a completion of the Alfred/Uhtred adventures. Cornwell has mastered the knack of beginning highly engrossing series and then leaving the reader dangling whilst he focuses on other works. This is infuriatingly maddening when I need my next fix in the series, but also a good way of increasing my anticipation for his newest novel! So, when Cornwell announced via his website that his next book would not be a continuation of one of his current series, I was a little worried as my mind was drawn back to `Azincourt' and the lukewarm reception it received.

Putting all my misguided apprehension aside, I have to say that I am an absolute Cornwell fan! I had to have the book on its publication date and I even took time off work this year to shut myself away from the real world whilst I devoured his latest novel. And after completing it, I have to say that it is brilliant, one of his best in years.

You can tell immediately, that `The Fort' is a novel that Cornwell has always wanted to write. Everything about the book screams that it is thoroughly and impeccably well researched, extremely well written and contains a new set of characters who are definitely not `carbon copies' of Sharpe/Uhtred set in different historic settings. The characters are well rounded and have personalities which are fully dimensional, particularly for some of the `rebels' in this book. These men lived and fought through a period of time in which they struggled with their national identity and allegiances. Were they British or American, Rebel or Loyalist? This battle to `re-identify' their nationality and political allegiance is beautifully and simplistically woven into the tale. You truly feel sorry for some of the American characters in this book who are caught up in a war which they had no desire to take part in.

The story principally concerns the Americans attempting to dislodge a British incursion at Majabigwaduce, Massachusetts (look out for how many variations the characters use for this unwieldy place name, very amusing!). Some authors (but mainly popular Hollywood films) when tackling the American War of Independence have been guilty of creating pompous, snobbish, effeminate, evil British officers and `against all the odds' heroic, impossible to kill American patriots. That is not the case with this book, Cornwell has created a balanced novel in which characters are good and evil on both sides, but most importantly, he never loses sight of the fact that all people involved during this war were simple, flawed human beings and not Hollywood movie stars. This leaves a book which is an absolute pleasure to read.

If you're a Cornwell fan, you'll not be disappointed with this book. This is an exceptional return to form with this remarkable novel.

In Britain we had a brilliant cunning plan - we shipped out convicts to Australia and our religious nutcases over to the newly discovered America. In retrospect we are well aware that we should have left these two groups at home and shipped ourselves out to the paradise of Australia and the land of plenty that was America. But I digress, let's roll forward to the point where America tired of British rule, British Kings and, more importantly, British taxes. Obviously an unreasonable attitude but the War of Independence was their way of kicking us out and this novel, based on fact, is set during that war.

Some spoilers here, but I'm not sure if they count in a factual novel...

In 1779 a force of Scottish infantry with limited support from the Royal Navy was ordered to hold a key peninsula in Maine (called Majabigwaduce) while the Americans were equally determined to take it back.

British author Cornwell tries very hard to be objective and portray both sides in this conflict with balance. He obviously discovered an piece of American history that was not well known and decided to base a novel on it, partly because of the historical interest, but also because some key historical figures were involved, John Moore (later to become one of Britain's finest soldiers and leaders) and American Paul Revere (made famous by Longfellow's famous poem which gives him far more credit then he was actually due).

There is no doubt that this is an interesting book, but here Cornwell has taken an event and placed his story in it, he normally takes characters like Sharpe with distinct personality and then places them in historical events. It doesn't work like the Sharpe stories for this very reason as his main characters here were real and that does not allow him much to play with.

The Scots were inexperienced troops but had experienced and inspirational leadership and were regular soldiers who did this for a living. There was joint strategy and effective communication with the Royal Navy but the position was still very weak. Enter the Americans with more troops and a superior naval force, but with conflicting leadership and poor communications. From Cornwell's telling the American troops varied from experienced and brave marines to conscripts and volunteers who really wanted to be farming, not fighting. With naval and land commanders not agreeing on any strategy they delayed for so long that the Royal Navy turned up to re-enforce the garrison and the Americans decided to retreat. This was not from cowardice but, given that they no longer had the upper hand, was probably the best thing to do given the situation and that they had delayed for so long. Having said that, they had the chance to regroup where the river narrowed but once again poor leadership meant that they didn't do so, and as a result the fleet was destroyed by their own hands or by the British in the biggest American naval disaster prior to Pearl Harbor.

Of most interest was probably Paul Revere who comes over very poorly here, lazy arrogant and self serving - we Brits have hardly ever heard of him, but it may be hard for Americans to see a historical icon painted in a different light.

So this is an interesting book, but not a real page turner, it lacks tension because you know the outcome before you turn the first page. Cornwell has shed light on a small but important bit of history but fails to make it into an enthralling read.