Swords and Eagles

Two novels of Napoleonic high adventure

Cyrus Brady was a prolific American born author of both fiction and non-fiction whose career spanned the end of the nineteenth and first quarter of the twentieth centuries. He is perhaps principally known for his histories of the American West, particularly concerning the collisions of the US Army and the North American Indian tribes. However, his fiction, mostly tales of adventure against historical settings, also comprises a substantial percentage of his literary output. Brady knew how to tell a good story and the two adventures within this book-set during the Napoleonic Wars-are no exception. Those familiar with the Brigadier Gerard stories of a dashing soldier set upon special missions by his emperor will find much familiar among these pages. The protagonist in each of the novels here is of a similar type to Brigadier Gerard, though perhaps lacking the distinctive humorous element of Conan Doyle's famous character. In one of these novels the principal character is, like Gerard, a French light cavalryman in the other he is a young officer of the French infantry. Brady has chosen spectacular historical settings for these adventures and we experience the disastrous retreat from Moscow and the momentous campaign at Waterloo which, of course, provide a stage rich with potential for tales of action and romance. This special Leonaur edition of Brady's two Napoleonic period adventures is available in soft cover and hard cover with dust jacket for collectors.