A CALL TO ARMS

In 1819, Lieutenant Hervey (Mallinson's continuing character), bereaved widower and ex-Dragoon, travels to Italy and is befriended by the poet Shelley. When Hervey is persuaded to return to the military, he is put in charge of a regiment to be posted to India, where a campaign against the Burmese awaits. Erick Graham, who has read the previous novels in this series, captures the formality of British social and military life in his elegant and deliberate performance. Conversations sound natural and flow freely despite one character's speech impediment. This is definitely a period piece with a lot of military detail, some of it (how horses are managed on a long sea voyage, for instance) quite interesting. J.G.B. (c) AudioFile 2003, Portland, Maine [Published: AUG/SEP 03]