Title: The King of Dunkirk (King’s Germans Book 2)
Author: Dominic Fielder
Genre: Historical Fiction
Book Blurb:
May 1793: The French border
Valenciennes, Paris then home! Every common soldier knows the popular refrain so why can’t the commanders see sense?
The protracted siege of Valenciennes exposes the mistrust between the allies. National interests triumphed over military logic. The King’s Germans find themselves marching north to the coast, not east to Paris. Dunkirk has become a royal prize, an open secret smuggled to the French, who set a trap for the Duke of York’s army.
Lieutenant Erich von Bomm and Captain Werner Brandt find themselves in the thick of the action as the 14th Nationals, the Black Lions, seek their revenge. In the chaos of battle, Sebastian Krombach, working alongside Major Trevethan, the engineer tasked with capturing Dunkirk, must make a dreadful choice: to guide a battalion of Foot Guards to safety across the Great Moor or carry a message that might save the life of a friend.
The King’s Germans and the Black Lions do battle to determine who shall be crowned the King of Dunkirk.
My Review:
The second part of a series, this book is a lengthy read but one worth a reader's time. The author has managed to bring the late 18th century alive through his characters that sweep across Western European society at that time. The King of Dunkirk isn't so much about someone as about something. This is a series of books that is illustrating all aspects of the War of the First Coalition through the viewpoints of people involved in this war.
The author is able to accurately portray the military history. The research done is commendable. As a historian who has studied battle diaries of units in World War Two, I can attest to the amount of research that is required to portray such great detail. Further, the author goes beyond what can be the "dry" history of the time by adding his own evocative characters.
The reader is swept along with the high drama of international politics, the course, gruff nature of inner unit politics, the bitter, self serving politics of the French Revolution, the stolid nature of pure friendship and, of course, love.
The King of Dunkirk is ready-made for audiences of the 21st century who seem to live and breathe conflict in stories. On a personal aside, I find it less enjoyable that death seeks out the good characters while those I could easily describe as asshats seem to live on and on. As an author myself, I personally would have had Big Sgt Grauner take a full canister shell in the face rather than a leg wound, but that is just me. Perhaps that could occur in the next segment... there is nothing as exciting as creating a new foil for the otherwise decent people of the regiment. I also would have preferred the list of character descriptions as a part before the story as opposed to a postscript.
A brilliantly researched, cleverly written book that breathes life and adventure into the late 1700's. A fantastic read that will appeal to fans of Game of Thrones, Vikings and even the tv show, Survivor.
My Rating: 5 stars
Buy it Now:
Free to read on Kindle Unlimited!
Author Biography:
The King’s Germans is a project that has been many years in the making. Currently I manage to juggle writing and research around a crowded work and family life. The Black Lions of Flanders (set in 1793) is the first in the King’s Germans’ series, which will follow an array of characters through to the final book in Waterloo. The King of Dunkirk will soon be released and I hope that the response to that is as encouraging as the reviews of Black Lions have been.
While I’m self-published now, I have an excellent support team that help me to produce what I hope is a story with professional feel, and that readers would want to read more than once. My family background is in paperback book sales, so I’m very keen to ensure that the paperback design is something that I would be proud to put on my bookshelf.
I live in just outside of Tavistock, in Devon where I enjoy walking on the moors and the occasional horse-riding excursion as both inspiration and relaxation.
Social Media Links:
@Kings_Germans (Twitter)
kingsgermans (Instagram)
Reviewed by: Mr. N