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A Call To Arms
A Call To Arms
Dec 20, 2025 7:30 PM

Author:Allan Mallinson

A Call To Arms

The Sunday Times bestselling author Allan Mallinson, brings us another action-packed and stirring Matthew Hervey adventure. If you like Patrick O'Brian, Bernard Cornwell and CS Forester, this will not disappoint!

"A thoroughly satisfying and entertaining read" - THE TIMES

"Matthew Hervey has now joined Bernard Cornwell's Sharpe and Patrick O'Brian's Jack Aubrey" - Birmingham Post

"After just half-a-dozen pages I was hooked." -- ***** Reader review

"An excellent book, when you start reading you cannot put it down. Allan Mallinson at his best!!!" -- ***** Reader review

"Essential reading for military buffs" -- ***** Reader review

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India 1819: Matthew Hervey is charged with raising a new troop, and organising transport for India - for he, his men and their horses are to set sail with immediate effect.

What Hervey and his soldiers cannot know is that in India they will face a trial for which they are woefully under prepared.

A large number of Burmese war-boats are assembled near Chittagong, and the only way to thwart their advance involves a hazardous march through the jungle.

Soon Hervey and his troop are in the midst of hot and bloody action once again...

A Call To Arms is the fourth book in Allan Mallinson's Matthew Hervey series. His adventures continue in The Sabre's Edge. Have you read his previous adventures A Close Run Thing, The Nizam's Daughters and A Regimental Affair?

Reviews

'Wonderfully vivid... the real delight of Mallinson's books is their authenticity... His portrayal of his characters, as well as his vignettes of historical personages...show a rare and thoughtful understanding of the huan condition and the mind of the soldier. It all makes for a thoroughly satisfying and entertaining read'

—— The Times

Thrilling... In addition to his exceptional knowledge of history, Allan Mallinson shows his deep awareness of human feelings and failings. This is an exceptional book.

—— Country Life

A riveting tale of heroism, derring do and enormous resource in the face of overwhelming adversity ... Another prime example of the unputdownable historical novel

—— The Times

'Oozing action, A Call to Arms is a military tale of epic proportions that will leave fans counting the days to the next adventure'

—— Ireland on Sunday

'With each book, Hervey himself is becoming a more complex and interesting characters...Mallinson writes of his inner questionings with subtlety and sympathy. This series grows in stature with each book'

—— Evening Standard

A compulsive read

—— Jacqueline Wilson

You really care about the characters and it makes you question what you would do in the same circumstances. My heart was in my mouth at the end of it

—— Mary Hooper

Beneath this dramatic storyline, which will resonate with older teen readers, Gayle Forman cleverly explores the fragility and uncertainty of life. She does so in an emotive and thoughtful manner that will persuade even the most cynical reader of the importance of friendship, family and love

—— Waterstone's Books Quarterly

STARRED REVIEW - Intensely moving, the novel will force readers to take stock of their lives and the people and things that make them worth living

—— Publishers Weekly (US)

The author endows the narrative with as much humor as poignancy and lays bare the challenges Mia has encountered in each of her relationships as well as the breakthroughs, leaving readers in suspense until the final bars.

—— www.shelf-awareness.com

Original and exciting, it is a novel about relationships, life, and the people involved in both.The characters are tangibly real; the plot is fascinating and will cause pages to turn rapidly.Teens and adults alike will find themselves falling in love with Forman's stunning novel

—— Isabel Crevasse , VOYA (Voice of Youth Advocates - US) - wwww.voya.com

STARRED REVIEW - Forman excels at inserting tiny but powerful details throughout . . . which will draw readers into this masterful text and undoubtedly tug at even the toughest of heartstrings

—— Kirkus (US)

Beneath this dramatic storyline, which will resonate with older teen readers, Gayle Forman cleverly explores the fragility and uncertainty of life. She does so in an emotive and thoughtful manner that will persuade even the most cynical reader of the importance of friendship, family and love.

—— Waterstone's Books Quarterly

STARRED REVIEW - laced with insight, good humor, and wonder

—— Booklist (US)

If I Stay is one of the most touching, beautiful, heart-breaking books I've ever read.
If I Stay is simply stunning ... definitely a book to add to my favorites.

—— Along for the Ride (Book Review Blog) , http://sarasbookjourney.blogspot.com/2010/05/if-i-stay-by-gayle-forman.html

It would be a hard heart indeed that remained unmoved . . . the tender feelings that Noble engenders in her readers are to be cherished

—— Daily Express

Warner navigates the comic, the philosophical and the socially acute like no other writer we have

—— Independent

Played refreshingly uncliched games with the device of the unreliable narrator

—— Jonathan Coe , Daily Telegraph, Christmas round up

Blake Morrison's examination of the dark heart of male rivalry makes foe a gripping read

—— Aminatta Forna , Sunday Telegraph, Christmas round up

Pacy and gripping...wonderfully atmospheric

—— Good Book Guide

Morrison's compelling study of male competitiveness offers a discomforting account of the amoral excuses and self-deception of the compulsive gambler: "I don't have a problem. I could stop tomorrow"; "gambling is the basis of our whole economy". You reckon you could put it down at any point - though you'd be kidding yourself

—— Alfred Hickling , Guardian

The Bank Holiday weekend from hell is the subject of Blake Morrison's entertaining new novel - a dark little tale about middle-class rivalry and midsummer meltdown. With an ear attuned to metropolitan pretension - modern parenting skills are sent up with gusto - Morrison succeeds in weaving a murderous melodrama that is grounded in the most recognizable of human impulses and desires

—— Emma Hagestadt , Independent

A tense chamber piece about a twisted friendship...the author's skilful choreography of unsympathetic characters and a menacing tone make for a sharply intelligent novel that is both unnerving and enjoyable

—— Financial Times

The Last Weekend isn't really a thriller though its well-paced, tight and gripping narrative has you reaching for the same adjectives that you would use to describe one

—— Paul Dunn , The Times

For those holidaying with old friends…the book tells the chilling story ofa rivalrousfriendship…leaving Alex Clark to conclude that Morrison “keeps the reader constantly intrigued

—— Guardian
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