As Napoleon prepares to invade Prussia, a war-weary sergeant is pushed to his limit in this epic military adventure series. France, 1806. Napoleon Bonaparte’s Grande Armeé is poised for war. But this is no ordinary mission. Having crushed the forces of Austria and Russia the year before, Bonaparte now seeks to avenge the French Army’s annihilation by Frederick the Great’s Prussian forces in 1757. When Prussia refuses to comply with Bonaparte’s demands that they surrender and form an alliance against England, war becomes inevitable. Sergeant Alain Lausard and his war-weary squadron of dragoons have been through many epic battles under Napoleon’s command. They would do anything for their great leader. But as they prepare to enter into yet another bloody campaign that will feature battles at Jena and Auerstadt, their loyalties are stretched to the limit . . .

A cavalry officer roots out conspirators in Paris as Napoleon mounts his fateful coup in this epic historical novel. France, 1799: As corruption spreads through the ruling Directory and rebels terrorize the countryside, the ideals of the Revolution seem far away. Napoleon Bonaparte returns from Egypt determined to restore order—and take control. Recalled to Paris to buttress their commander’s political ambitions, Alain Lausard and his heroic cavalry unit look on as Bonaparte stages a coup d’état. With Bonaparte under pressure to make peace with France’s enemies abroad, Lausard’s dragoons are reduced to flushing out enemies hiding in the gutters of Paris. When Bonaparte prepares to reclaim lost territory in Italy, Lausard is relieved. He owes his freedom to Bonaparte—and only through war can he contain the guilt he still feels for fleeing his family during The Terror. As the French cavalry crosses the Alps, Lausard’s men will face their most daunting challenge yet . . .

A loyal cavalry officer must prevent a plot against Napoleon himself in this thrilling historical military adventure. France, 1803. It is September, and the uneasy peace between Bonaparte and his great rivals looks ever more precarious. The English suspect that Napoleon had an ulterior motive for signing the treaty of Amiens. And they are right. 200,000 soldiers are arriving on the French coast, readying to invade Britain. Amongst them is Alain Lausard and his fellow dragoons, veterans of Bonaparte’s greatest battles. But whilst Lausard lives for war, even he feels hesitant about the imminent attack. The French Army may be the greatest in Europe, but England dominates the high seas. And while Napoleon is confident of victory, there are whispers plotting against him from within. Suddenly, the campaign is not what it seems . . .

Napoleon’s mighty army face the inferno of the Egyptian desert in this thrilling historical adventure, the sequel to Bonaparte’s Sons. France, 1798. Seventeen thousand French troops leave Toulon harbor in May, unaware of their ultimate destination. Barely three months after taking Rome, Napoleon Bonaparte has rewarded his finest regiments with a place among the Army of the Orient, bound for Egypt. Alain Lausard and his cavalry unit are on board the frigate L’Esperance. Their first battle is merely to survive the degradation that is life at sea. By the time they stagger, starved and exhausted, upon the shores of Egypt, Lausard’s dragoons have more than glory to fight for. As his beleaguered soldiers march into the desert, Bonaparte watches his tactical gamble collapse. Even when the Mameluke army is defeated beneath the pyramids, Admiral Nelson’s destruction of the French fleet and Bonaparte’s obsessive war-mongering convince Lausard that he will never see Paris again . . .

In this sweeping historical series debut, a fallen French aristocrat must prove himself in the furnace of Napoleon’s army. France, 1795: Confusion and fear reign in the Republic. With her troops facing starvation and annihilation on three fronts, France is killing her patriots. Alain Lausard, an aristocrat whose family were massacred in The Terror, now rots in prison. His one chance at freedom is to serve in the faltering Italian campaign, now commanded by a young Napoleon Bonaparte. Trained as a soldier, Lausard commands respect for turning his ragged miscreants into ruthless cavalry. Yet tensions remain. As the unit falls under the command of the despotic Cezar, a hazardous mission behind enemy lines threatens everything . . .

Taking up where Of Modern Dragons (2007) left off, these essays continue Lennard's investigation of the praxis of serial reading and the best genre fiction of recent decades, including work by Bill James, Walter Mosley, Lois Mcmaster Bujold, and Ursula K. Le Guin. There are groundbreaking studies of contemporary paranormal romance, and of Hornblower's transition to space, while the final essay deals with the phenomenon and explosive growth of fanfiction, and with the increasingly empowered status of the reader in a digital world. There is an extensive bibliography of genre and critical work, with eight illustrations. John Lennard is Director of Studies at Hughes Hall, Cambridge and has also taught for the Universities of London, Notre Dame, and for the Open University, and was Professor of British & American Literature at the University of the West Indies-Mona, 2004-09. Of Modern Dragons and other essays on genre fiction (2007), is also available from Lulu.