Napoleonic War Books In Order

Publication Order of Napoleonic Wars Books

The Napoleonic Wars book series is an exciting series of historical fiction, war, and military fiction stories. It is comprised of a total of 6 books released between 2008 and 2015. The series is written by a renowned British writer named Adrian Goldsworthy. Every novel of this series is set during the Napoleonic Wars. Adrian Goldsworthy has mentioned the adventures of a fictional foot regiment called the 106th Regiment at the heart of every story. The soldiers of this regiment are shown fighting their way through Spain, France, Portugal, Canada, and finally to the Waterloo ridge.

Author Goldsworthy has set the series’ events in the early 19th century and has mentioned the primary character in each book as Hamish William. A few other important characters created by him for this series include Sir John Moore, Jane MacAndrews, Hanley, Kitty, Captain Billy Pringle, Marshal Ney, Napoleon Bonaparte, etc. The debut book of the Napoleonic Wars series is entitled ‘True Soldier Gentleman’. It was released by the George Weidenfield & Nicholson publication in 2011, after its first release in 2008. The book opens in the year 1808 and introduces Hamish Williams as a ‘gentleman volunteer’. He is a part of the 106th foot regiment.

Hamish serves in his rank as a soldier, but lives with the officers. He finds it quite uncomfortable to live in both worlds. He is looked down on by the ones having influence or money for buying their rank. Also, the common soldiers don’t trust him and do not consider him as one of them. But, Hamish Williams is filled with determination to prove his worth. He looks forward to doing all those deeds that will prove him to be a man worthy of promotion in the rank. When the 106th regiment is asked to embark for Portugal to fight against Napoleon Bonaparte in the Peninsula War, Hamish sees it as an opportunity to achieve glory. As soon as the war begins, Hamish Williams receives sharp lessons in the war realities. The 106th faces bloody baptism from the French, making Hamish Williams realize that his single-minded aim for honor may not be the quickest way to achieve promotion.

The second installment of the series is called ‘Beat The Drums Slowly’. It was also published in 2011 by the George Weidenfield and Nicholson publication. The central characters mentioned in this book by Adrian Goldsworthy include John Moore, Hamish Williams, Jane MacAndrews, Lieutenant Hanley, etc. This novel’s story takes the heroes of the 106th regiment through the snowy winters as Commander John Moore is forced to take the decision of retreating to Corunna. The regiment faces appalling weather and is pursued by the dangerous French army commanded by Napoleon Bonaparte himself. As a result, the chances of the British army’s survival look pale. Hamish Williams has been newly promoted one rank up and is all geared up to fight with more determination.

As the 106th Foot indulges in a desperate rearguard fight, Hamish experiences an unexpected personal drama during the retreat. After getting separated from the regiment, during the initial chaos, he has a chance encounter with another fugitive named Jane MacAndrews. Jane is his commanding officer’s daughter and the woman he has hopelessly and desperately started to love. As Jane MacAndrews and Hamish Williams battle the rough weather and the pursuing army of the French, the strict limitations of their social relationship face a test beyond limits and come up with surprising outcomes. Along their personal and military struggle, the pair pick up several stragglers and an abandoned newborn child. Hamish makes up his mind to do more than just evade capture. He decides to do whatever it takes to deliver Jane MacAndrews to her father safe and sound.

When Hamish Williams learns that the French cavalry has appointed a special unit to turn the retreat of the British army into a massacre, he takes it as a top priority to prevent the French from succeeding in their evil plan. He and his small band of stragglers are the only ones standing between the French cavalry and their goal. This book went on to become a huge hit as it entertained a large number of readers across the globe. It received rave reviews from the critics and reviewers for its rich content, action-packed sequences, intriguing characters, and exciting storyline.

Adrian Goldsworthy is a renowned British historian and writer of ancient Roman stories. He is particularly famous for writing the Roman Britain series and the Napoleonic Wars series. Additionally, Adrian has penned several standalone nonfiction books as well. Adrian Goldsworthy was born in 1969 in Cardiff, The United Kingdom. He completed his schooling from Westbourne School in Penarth. Thereafter, Adrian joined the St. John’s College, Oxford, where he studied Ancient & Modern History before earning his D. Phil from Oxford University in ancient military history in 1994. The dissertation of his doctorate laid the foundation of his debut novel called The Roman Army at War. The Cardiff University appointed Adrian as a Junior Research Fellow for a couple of years. He also taught at King’s College, London and worked as an assistant professor at Notre Dame University for 6 years.

Adrian has expertise in Roman history, but also took courses in the military history of World War II during his teaching career. Though he loved teaching, writing was something that gave him more pleasure. So, he left teaching and settled down as a full-time writer. In addition to writing novels, Adrian has featured on TV game shows and documentaries. He has served as an expert on game battles fought between contestants. It was in 2010 that he started writing a military history series based on the Napoleonic era. The subsequent novels gave rise to his widely popular Napoleon Wars series. Adrian has taken the titles of all his novels from famous military songs’ lyrics of that time. He has confessed that he likes to write stories that make him interested in reading them. As of now, Adrian resides in South Wales. He spends his free time attending various events and serving as a contributing speaker on various topics related to history. Adrian hopes to write many more exciting historical novels in the years to come.