A Very English Agent
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Review
** 'Arresting, informative and entertaining and shows Rathbone at the peak of his considerable powers..Fantastic' - ROSS LECKIE, The Times ** 'For rollicking period fiction with a razor-sharp mind behind it, the book would be hard to better.' - David Robson, SUNDAY TELEGRAPH
David Robson, SUNDAY TELEGRAPH
'For a rollicking period fiction, with a razor-sharp mind behind it, the book would be hard to better’
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
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First Sentence
I was fifteen years old, or was it twenty, when I was thrust on to the stage of world history. Read the first page
Front Cover | Copyright | Excerpt | Back Cover
I was fifteen years old, or was it twenty, when I was thrust on to the stage of world history. Read the first page
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
7 of 7 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
A roller coaster journey through the first half of the nineteenth century, following the adventures of Charles Bosham/Boylan from his disgraceful conduct while the battle of Waterloo was raging, to his likely demise at the hands of a Victorian hangman at the end of the novel. On one level, it is the story of an assassin and agent provocateur (yes, they did exist) licensed by one of the most reactionary governments this country has ever seen to deal with their enemies. Charlie pops up in all the expected places (Cato Street, St Peter's Fields, the Luddites - though he misses out on the Tolpuddle Martyrs) and even engineers Shelley's drowning. On another level, it could be a series of tall stories by a vagrant who turned his imagination to good effect to wheedle his listeners into laying on little luxuries for him. The reader has to choose.
Julian Rathbone writes with his usual skill. A previous reviwer thought the Shelley scene rather dull - not so. The irony of Shelley, the upper class revolutionary, being waited on by his womenfolk (including Mary Wollstonecraft's daughter!! And his raffish household really comes to life in this chapter.
I would pick out his name dropping: John Constable, painting clouds; Darcy (who turned out to be a disappointment, as many of us expected), Karl Marx, Mary Ellis (George Eliot) - and many others.
The only irritating feature -hinted at in the title to this review - is an over-cleverness that comes from knowing anachronisms: 'agent 003'; 'safe houses'- the author's little prods in the ribs. Let's leave Bond and Le Carre in the 20th Cnetury, please. Maybe 4 1/2 stars after all - but too good a book to merit 4 stars only.
7 of 7 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
As others have said, the characters are fascinating, and you're given a glimpse into one of the less well known periods of British history. If, like me, you'd heard of Peterloo and the Corn Laws, but didn't know what they actually were, then you'll find this an interesting read.
The down side is that there isn't really a plot. Nothing gets resolved in the end, and most of the book is just repetition of similar events. It really reads as if the author got bored half-way through writing it, or maybe realised that he could save half the story for a sequel.
It was an amusing and pleasant read, and maybe if you approach it with that expectation, savouring the journey rather than the arrival, then maybe this wouldn't be a bad choice.
9 of 10 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
This is a novel in the vein of Flashman, but with considerably more sex - which is saying something! Rathbone is superb at constructing long jokes. He keeps some of these running throughout whilst surprising the reader with accurate historical interludes. One shouldn't be surprised that the late Romantic poets were considered threats to society, or that Wellington was more than just a general. This is a book for people with a certain amount of understanding about History - not for people who need to be lead around the subject. There are some excellent one-liners, and the story has good pace and impact - I'd thoroughly recommend this book to intelligent readers who like to be amused and challenged - I read it in three days and thought it a cracker.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
A magnificent exercise in irony and parody
Rathbone's `A Very English Agent' opens with grim humour upon our hero, Charlie Boylan, as he enages in his latest adventure whilst the opening salvos of the Battle of Waterloo... Read more
Published 12 months ago by Mark
Flashman re-written by John Pilger?
This is a great, rollicking historical spy adventure that should throw any believer in so-called Victorian Values into apoplectic fits. Read more
Published on 14 May 2006 by Dobester
Rollicking, witty and enjoyable ...
... but you have to be clever enough to get the jokes and there are hundreds of them. As one reviewer said, there are references to modern people slyly worked in. Read more
Published on 3 Mar 2005 by Roy Brookes
Disappointing
Very quick review - having read 'kings of albion' and 'the last english king' i was so looking forward to another witty, intriguing, funny historical novel. Read more
Published on 3 Oct 2003
Rathbone riddles
Just like his other novels, this one embroiders and alters the facts of the period (Waterloo to early Victorian) to give a the reader an uncomfortably (but enjoyable) familiar... Read more
Published on 1 Sep 2003 by Geoff Buck
Quirky, fascinating, gripping and funny
If you are looking for a tense historic novel, then this is probably not for you. If you have read and enjoyed Rathbone's other work, particularly Joseph, then stop reading now and... Read more
Published on 28 July 2003 by Mr. Andrew Dennis
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