Having killed off Sherlock Holmes, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle began a new series of tales on a very different theme. Brigadier Gerard is an officer in Napoleon’s army — recklessly brave, engagingly openhearted, and unshakable, if not a little absurd, in his devotion to the enigmatic Emperor. The Brigadier’s wonderful comic adventures, long established in the affections of Conan Doyle’s admirers as second only to those of the incomparable Holmes, are sure to find new devotees among the ardent fans of such writers as Patrick O’Brian and George MacDonald Fraser. "Brigadier Gerard is, after Holmes and Watson, Conan Doyle's most successful literary creation." — Julian Symons