Reviews

Valiant Gentlemen by Sabina Murray

cseibs's review against another edition

2.0

I found all three subjects fascinating but I feel they were all under utilized, especially Ward. He is presented merely as a prop and his professional achievements are largely ignored. Their shared time in Africa was focused on such detail that it set false expectations that the rest of the book would be as thorough, but unfortunately much of the remainder was a brief accounting with very little detail, despite the book's length. Perhaps it was too ambitious to try to capture the lives of three people simultaneously in one book.

hkihm's review against another edition

4.0

slow-going but ultimately rewarding book that gets into the personal of world politics.

befsb's review against another edition

dark emotional medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

rumaho76's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark informative reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

The end of the British Empire and WWI meet in this book about Roger Casement and his friend Herbert Ward. 

withonestone's review against another edition

adventurous emotional fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

notoriousesr's review against another edition

adventurous reflective sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.25

shallihavemydwarf's review against another edition

4.0

I must admit, I had no idea while reading this that Casement, Ward, Sarita et al. were real historical figures. I had pictured them as fictional creations experiencing historical events, and I wonder if/how knowledge of their historical counterparts would have coloured my reading.

I loved this book. The characters all truly popped, and I loved them all for their complications and flaws, even Ward.

This reminded me a great deal of A Gentleman in Moscow in it historical setting and contemplative style.

oisin175's review against another edition

4.0

I really enjoyed this book, though I subtracted a star for this edition because it was clear that the editing was incomplete and I was disappointed in how superficial Casement's humanitarian work was covered. Initially I hoped the author would make up for this by putting more focus on his Irish work. Unfortunately this was not the case. However, the relationship between Casement and Ward, as well as the POV sections from Sarita created a very interesting an full narrative. Ideally this should be read either with or shortly after reading The Dream of the Celt. That book is slightly less exciting and engaging in the way this book is, however, it gives a very focused narrative concerning Casement's humanitarian work. It will certainly help the reader understand all the event going on in the background.

goatfarmer's review

adventurous sad medium-paced

4.0

loufillari's review against another edition

4.0

This book was v good. I'm not sure if it started slow or if I was just not in the mood to read an historical fiction that begins in the late 1800s but man oh man did I detest this when I started it. It was a trek getting through those first one hundred and such pages.

But then this book takes off. There's these guys and one gets married and one doesn't and their lives consist of different events. Wild. And the one guy's wife is awesome. Best character in the book awesome.

The historical figures presented in third novel are Roger Casement, who fought for an independent Ireland, and Herbert Ward, who did nifty stuff too, I suppose. In the end he just turned out to be a coward. So said Sarita, and my girl Sarita could do no wrong.

When I finished this book, I read more about these three main characters and that's when my strong three star rating hopped on up to a weak four stars.

Viva la revolucion! Imperialism blows! Also don't trust Great War era Germans!