What do you think?
Rate this book
Alexander Sheridan #1
Victors and Lords
Unfairly forced out of the army for insubordination, Alexander Sheridan leaves Britain and his former life behind to command a unit of the East India Company. Despised by the aristocratic generals of the regular army, in the heat of the deadly battles of the Crimean War Sheridan and his corps of volunteers must face both the rigors of combat and the treachery of men who should be allies.
- GenresHistorical Fiction
272 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1964
About the author
V.A. Stuart
35 books4 followersSee also Vivian Stuart.
Violet Vivian Finlay was born on 2 January 1914 in Berkshire, England, UK, the daughter of Alice Kathleen (née Norton) and Sir Campbell Kirkman Finlay. Her father was the owner and director of Burmah Oil Company Ltd., whose Scottish family also owned James Finlay and Company Ltd. The majority of her childhood and youth was spent in Rangoon, Burma (now also known as Myanmar), where her father worked. During her life, she frequently journeyed between India, Singapore, Java and Sumatra.
Although Vivian is well-known by the surname of Stuart, she married four times during her lifetime, and had five children: Gillian Rushton (née Porch), Kim Santow, Jennifer Gooch (née Stuart), and twins Vary and Valerie Stuart.
Following the dissolution of her first marriage, she studied for a time Law in London in the mid 1930s, before decided studied Medicine at the University of London. Later she spent time in Hungary in the capacity of private tutor in English, while she obtained a pathologist qualification at the University of Budapest in 1938. In 1939, she emigrated to Australia with her second husband, a Hungarian Doctor Geza Santow with whom she worked. In 1942, she obtained a diploma in industrial chemistry and laboratory technique at Technical Institute of Newcastle. Having earned an ambulance driver's certificate, she joined the Australian Forces at the Women's Auxiliary Service during World War II. She was attached to the IVth Army, and raised to the rank of sergeant, she was posted to British XIV Army in Rangoon, Burma in October 1945, and was then transferred to Sumatra in December. After the WWII, she returned to England. On 24 October 1958, she married her fourth and last husband, Cyril William Mann, a bank manager.
She was a prolific writer from 1953 to 1986 under diferent pseudonyms: Vivian Stuart, Alex Stuart, Barbara Allen, Fiona Finlay, V. A. Stuart, William Stuart Long and Robyn Stuart. Many of her novels were protagonized by doctors or nurses, and set in Asia, Australia or other places she had visited. Her romance novel, Gay Cavalier published in 1955 as Alex Stuart got her into trouble with her Mills & Boon editors when she featured a secondary story line featuring a Catholic male and Protestant female who chose to marry. This so-called "mixed marriage" touched nerves in the United Kingdom.
In 1960, she was a founder of the Romantic Novelists' Association, along with Denise Robins, Barbara Cartland, and others; she was elected the first Chairman (1961-1963). In 1970, she became the first woman to chair Swanwick Writers' Summer School.
Violet Vivian Finlay Porch Santow Stuart Mann passed away on August 1986 in Yorkshire, at age 72. She continued writing until her death.
Violet Vivian Finlay was born on 2 January 1914 in Berkshire, England, UK, the daughter of Alice Kathleen (née Norton) and Sir Campbell Kirkman Finlay. Her father was the owner and director of Burmah Oil Company Ltd., whose Scottish family also owned James Finlay and Company Ltd. The majority of her childhood and youth was spent in Rangoon, Burma (now also known as Myanmar), where her father worked. During her life, she frequently journeyed between India, Singapore, Java and Sumatra.
Although Vivian is well-known by the surname of Stuart, she married four times during her lifetime, and had five children: Gillian Rushton (née Porch), Kim Santow, Jennifer Gooch (née Stuart), and twins Vary and Valerie Stuart.
Following the dissolution of her first marriage, she studied for a time Law in London in the mid 1930s, before decided studied Medicine at the University of London. Later she spent time in Hungary in the capacity of private tutor in English, while she obtained a pathologist qualification at the University of Budapest in 1938. In 1939, she emigrated to Australia with her second husband, a Hungarian Doctor Geza Santow with whom she worked. In 1942, she obtained a diploma in industrial chemistry and laboratory technique at Technical Institute of Newcastle. Having earned an ambulance driver's certificate, she joined the Australian Forces at the Women's Auxiliary Service during World War II. She was attached to the IVth Army, and raised to the rank of sergeant, she was posted to British XIV Army in Rangoon, Burma in October 1945, and was then transferred to Sumatra in December. After the WWII, she returned to England. On 24 October 1958, she married her fourth and last husband, Cyril William Mann, a bank manager.
She was a prolific writer from 1953 to 1986 under diferent pseudonyms: Vivian Stuart, Alex Stuart, Barbara Allen, Fiona Finlay, V. A. Stuart, William Stuart Long and Robyn Stuart. Many of her novels were protagonized by doctors or nurses, and set in Asia, Australia or other places she had visited. Her romance novel, Gay Cavalier published in 1955 as Alex Stuart got her into trouble with her Mills & Boon editors when she featured a secondary story line featuring a Catholic male and Protestant female who chose to marry. This so-called "mixed marriage" touched nerves in the United Kingdom.
In 1960, she was a founder of the Romantic Novelists' Association, along with Denise Robins, Barbara Cartland, and others; she was elected the first Chairman (1961-1963). In 1970, she became the first woman to chair Swanwick Writers' Summer School.
Violet Vivian Finlay Porch Santow Stuart Mann passed away on August 1986 in Yorkshire, at age 72. She continued writing until her death.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
November 17, 2023
Clearly written closely to the original sources. Although this book is a work of fiction, the author claims, and I would believe, that he stayed close to fact on the events of this book, excepting of course the main character and his family. Similar to how you can learn a thing or two from Neal Stephenson this book is actually mildly educational as a 3rd+ hand historical reference. I had heard of Telegraph Hill, and the charge of the Light Brigade, probably from Kipling and Tennyson, but had really no idea what they were about. This book fills in that gap.
As a story, however, it seemed to fail on two counts:
1) It tried to both come from the story from the vantage point of Alex and the omnipresent future which knows the outcome of the ordeal. Obviously the readers of 1963 knew what happened to the Light Brigade but honestly, I'm definitely not alone in not knowing out here in 2023. This book could have been a compelling account from the vantage point of someone who didn't know what was about to happen to him, but it was so dryly described what was happening at the generals-eye-level that you couldn't help but feel the horror dissipate by foreknowledge. Like right on the cover "The gallant Charge of the Heavy Cvalry Brigade and the doomed Charge of the Light Brigade" ...was that really necessary? If you didn't know the Light Brigade was doomed, you might actually get a sense of doom reading the damn book, but when the cover tells you what the ending is going to be, what's the point of reading the book?
I suppose the future will find books about the Titanic similarly frustrating [we're not there yet].
2) Although it was interesting to see the cholera epidemic so described, there was just something about the description that was missing, living through a pandemic. It was as if the author knew that cholera had been a major driver of death, and understood that he had to put in an account for it but never really understood the gravity of that death. Maybe that's how they saw it at the time, I don't know, but something tells me that the author's characterization of the cholera was flat, just like most of the characters (though Emmy was sometimes a notable exception as a more complex character, most of the characters were cartoon-thin).
As a story, however, it seemed to fail on two counts:
1) It tried to both come from the story from the vantage point of Alex and the omnipresent future which knows the outcome of the ordeal. Obviously the readers of 1963 knew what happened to the Light Brigade but honestly, I'm definitely not alone in not knowing out here in 2023. This book could have been a compelling account from the vantage point of someone who didn't know what was about to happen to him, but it was so dryly described what was happening at the generals-eye-level that you couldn't help but feel the horror dissipate by foreknowledge. Like right on the cover "The gallant Charge of the Heavy Cvalry Brigade and the doomed Charge of the Light Brigade" ...was that really necessary? If you didn't know the Light Brigade was doomed, you might actually get a sense of doom reading the damn book, but when the cover tells you what the ending is going to be, what's the point of reading the book?
I suppose the future will find books about the Titanic similarly frustrating [we're not there yet].
2) Although it was interesting to see the cholera epidemic so described, there was just something about the description that was missing, living through a pandemic. It was as if the author knew that cholera had been a major driver of death, and understood that he had to put in an account for it but never really understood the gravity of that death. Maybe that's how they saw it at the time, I don't know, but something tells me that the author's characterization of the cholera was flat, just like most of the characters (though Emmy was sometimes a notable exception as a more complex character, most of the characters were cartoon-thin).
August 2, 2021
Spoilers below:
I dnf'd this at 63%. I thought this was a regular historical fiction book but it ended up being a romance book with a historical setting.
The book started off with the protagonist Alex Sheridan selling his commission in the 1tth Light Dragoons because of the colonel of the regiment. He planned to join the East India Company in India and had to leave his betrothed (Charlotte), the daughter of an earl. She had to break it up because she didn't want to go to India or to be married to be someone of low station. I thought that would be it and the rest of the story would be historical.
The big event was the Crimea War. Sheridan had already earned his chops in India meanwhile Charlotte had followed her husband to the war. I thought Sheridan would find love with the younger stepsister and that would be the end of the romance angle but it turned out that he still had feelings. I didn't want to read a whole book on some love triangle so that was it for me.
There's a whole Alex Sheridan series so I thought this would be a military series. I have no idea how the author would spin a romance over several books and I have no wish to find out.
The book gains a 2 star rating from me. According to the GR's rating scale 2 star = it was ok.
I dnf'd this at 63%. I thought this was a regular historical fiction book but it ended up being a romance book with a historical setting.
The book started off with the protagonist Alex Sheridan selling his commission in the 1tth Light Dragoons because of the colonel of the regiment. He planned to join the East India Company in India and had to leave his betrothed (Charlotte), the daughter of an earl. She had to break it up because she didn't want to go to India or to be married to be someone of low station. I thought that would be it and the rest of the story would be historical.
The big event was the Crimea War. Sheridan had already earned his chops in India meanwhile Charlotte had followed her husband to the war. I thought Sheridan would find love with the younger stepsister and that would be the end of the romance angle but it turned out that he still had feelings. I didn't want to read a whole book on some love triangle so that was it for me.
There's a whole Alex Sheridan series so I thought this would be a military series. I have no idea how the author would spin a romance over several books and I have no wish to find out.
The book gains a 2 star rating from me. According to the GR's rating scale 2 star = it was ok.
October 7, 2020
The worst I can say about this historical romance is that the characters seem to be somewhat two dimensional to me, too predictable. I would have liked them to surprise me a few times. And there seemed to be a division in the book, first the romance and then the war Piece of it. That division made the transition seem like a genre change rather than merely a setting change.
On the plus side, I enjoyed reading historical fiction about events not commonly covered. Besides Tennyson's poem, I haven't read much at all about the charge if the Light Brigade. When deciding whether to read this book, I saw reviews criticizing it for being dull, but it is perhaps unfair to compare these books to modern novels that are written for readers who don't want a deep read.
Anyway, I recommend it to historical fiction buffs, especially those who appreciate classic writing styles, such as Trollope or Dickens.
On the plus side, I enjoyed reading historical fiction about events not commonly covered. Besides Tennyson's poem, I haven't read much at all about the charge if the Light Brigade. When deciding whether to read this book, I saw reviews criticizing it for being dull, but it is perhaps unfair to compare these books to modern novels that are written for readers who don't want a deep read.
Anyway, I recommend it to historical fiction buffs, especially those who appreciate classic writing styles, such as Trollope or Dickens.
March 29, 2013
I enjoyed this book well enough, even thought it was not what I expected. I thought it would be a military history novel like Sharpe. Instead it was a pretty decent military romance, along with a shorthand history of the Crimean War up to Balaclava. I have read several things on the Crimea lately and it certainly was the worst-run war in the history of warfare. It would have been satiric funny if not for all the men who died of cholera, many more than died of wounds. Certainly defines the frustration and stupidity of warfare.
April 14, 2014
A historical romance set against the Crimean War -- 1850's. Well written. Historically accurate. Interesting detail on politics of allied warfare and politics within the British army. My review is of a McBooks Press book published 2001.
June 12, 2015
More society and romance than a battlefield book. I didn't enjoy it. Have its follow up around somewhere and I expect that is going to discard pile. Reeman, Cornwell, Mallinson, Forester, O'Brian, do a better job for my taste.
September 29, 2009
Reads like Crimean War history fanfic.
September 18, 2020
This book is short on military details and short on romantic details. So, what's the point of it? I don't know, and I read the whole thing waiting for something to make sense; it never did.
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews