The Hundred Days [Paperback]

Napoleon, escaped from Elba, pursues his enemies across Europe like a vengeful phoenix. If he can corner the British and Prussians before their Russian and Austrian allies arrive, his genius will lead the French armies to triumph at Waterloo. In the Balkans, preparing a thrust northwards into Central Europe to block the Russians and Austrians, a horde of Muslim mercenaries is gathering. They are inclined toward Napoleon because of his conversion to Islam during the Egyptian campaign, but they will not move without a shipment of gold ingots from Sheik Ibn Hazm which, according to British intelligence, is on its way via camel caravan to the coast of North Africa. It is this gold that Jack Aubrey and Stephen Maturin must at all costs intercept. The fate of Europe hinges on their desperate mission. I havent read novels [in the past ten years] except for all of the Patrick OBrian series. It was, unfortunately, like tripping on heroin. I started on those books and couldnt stop.The best historical novels ever written& On every page Mr. OBrian reminds us with subtle artistry of the most important of all historical lessons: that times change but people dont, that the griefs and follies and victories of the men and women who were here before us are in fact the maps of our own lives.It has been something of a shock to find myselfan inveterate reader of girl booksobsessed with Patrick OBrians Napoleonic-era historical novels& What keeps me hooked are the evolving relationships between Jack and Stephen and the women they love.I devoured Patrick OBrians 20-volume masterpiece as if it had been so many tots of Jamaica grog.I fell in love with his writing straightaway, at first with[OBrians] Aubrey-Maturin series, 20 novels of the Royal Navy in the Napoleonic Wars, is a masterpiece. It will outlive most of todays putative literary gems as Sherlock Holmes has outlived Bulwer-Lytton, as Mark Twain has outlived Charles Reade.The Aubrey-Maturin series& far beylƒ"