George Tomkyns Chesney (1830–1895)
Auteur van The Battle of Dorking
Over de Auteur
Werken van George Tomkyns Chesney
The Dilemma 1 exemplaar
The private secretary. A novel 1 exemplaar
The German Conquest of England in 1875. 1 exemplaar
The Lesters; or, A capitalist's labour 1 exemplaar
Gerelateerde werken
Tagged
Algemene kennis
- Officiële naam
- Chesney, Sir George Tomkyns
- Geboortedatum
- 1830
- Overlijdensdatum
- 1895
- Geslacht
- male
- Nationaliteit
- UK
- Relaties
- Chesney, Charles Cornwallis (brother)
Chesney, Francis Rawdon (uncle)
Chesney, Alexander (grandfather)
Leden
Besprekingen
Lijsten
Prijzen
Misschien vindt je deze ook leuk
Gerelateerde auteurs
Statistieken
- Werken
- 8
- Ook door
- 2
- Leden
- 79
- Populariteit
- #226,897
- Waardering
- 3.0
- Besprekingen
- 4
- ISBNs
- 12
- Talen
- 1
Sir George Tomkyns Chesney was a British Army General, politician, and writer of fiction, (there are no other works of his still in print although they can be found online) and I am sure he would have been surprised by the relative success of this novella (60 pages). Sir George writes well about what he knows and this is a land battle in the late nineteenth century. He imagines the British army being ill prepared and suffering because of a better equipped and better trained enemy. The book does serve as a warning to Britain as Chesney sketches the political situation as he saw it in 1870's England: an economy dependent on trade and raw materials supplied by its commonwealth, with an army that was being scaled down in deference to a more powerful navy. He imagines a situation where troubles in Ireland and in India have stretched the army to a point where it is not able to defend its homeland. Although the invading country is not named it is obviously Germany. The alternate history serves as an introduction to the real meat of the book which a disastrous defensive action against the invasion.
Chesney writes from the point of view of a reservist called up with a couple of days notice to fight for his country. The description of the logistics of an overstretched transport system and the battle itself seems quite realistic. It was particularly relevant for me because I know the countryside around Dorking very well and could easily relate to the protagonist who does his best to do his bit in a situation that is confused and difficult. The battle scene itself is vividly described both from the point of view of the soldiers and the civilians inevitably caught up in the conflict. It is not an anti-war book, nor a book of heroic action it is rather a blow by blow account of a few days of military action and its consequences.
A political and strategic battle story whose realistic well written style holds the attention, the later addition of its significance to a genre still over 40 years away from its creation makes this well worth a look. I would not be averse to reading one of Chesney's other works of fiction if I came across them in a second hand bookshop. 3.5 stars.… (meer)