Description
Etienne Gerard, Hussar in the French Army during the Napoleonic Wars, is vain – he is utterly convinced he is the bravest soldier, the greatest swordsman, the most accomplished horseman, and the most gallant lover in all France. He is not entirely wrong, but his self-satisfaction and obsession with honour and glory undercut his brave acts again and again, providing a delightful satire of the stereotypical English view of the French, along with Gerard’s baffled view of English manners and attitudes.
Book Excerpt
d has been living there these fourteen years past.’
‘A Polish nobleman?’ I asked.
‘Nay, we breed no such men in Poland,’ he answered.
‘A Frenchman, then?’ cried Duroc.
‘They say that he came from France.’
‘And with red hair?’
‘As red as a fox.’
