THE LEOPARD WAKES

About the Book

New Napoleonic Literary Hero - Just in time for the Bi-Centennial

The year 2003 marks the 200th anniversary of the lead-up to the Peninsular War between Britain and Napoleonic France - the perfect time to catch up on a little historical fiction.

Bernard Cornwell recently published the last of his successful "Sharpe" novels, but readers can continue their Napoleonic adventures with a new hero, artilleryman Jonathan West, in two books from Derek Cheney, "The Leopard Wakes" and the sequel "Vittoria".

Derek Cheney combines imaginative sympathy with the historian´s cool objectivity and rare knowledge of arms, men and military strategy. His vivid portrayal of nineteenth century England - its farming, fashionable society and colourful London "Season" - is as rich in fascinating period detail as his evocation of campaign life.  The Leopard Wakes, a story of romance, rivalry and adventure - but also of self-discovery through suffering - captures the spirit of the age and adds blood and meat to the dry bones of history.

About the Author

Derek Cheney completed three years of his national service in the British Royal Navy serving as a commissioned officer in the Volunteer Reserve. He is interested in military history, sailing and writing and lives with his wife, Margaret, at St. Mawes, Cornwall in the southwest of England. He discovered that much has been written of Trafalgar and Waterloo but little has been said of other military adventures of the Napoleonic period. Many people have heard of Sir John Moore and Corunna without realising the background details which led to this earlier British "Dunkirk" type of evacuation. Derek lays great emphasis on the factual content of historical fiction and regards accuracy in this respect as paramount. A sequel the "The Leopard Wakes" continuing the adventures of Captain Jonathan West has now been written and covers the remainder of the Peninsular War from 1809 to 1813. It is entitled "Vittoria" and will also be available from Xlibris, Philadelphia.