At Aboukir and Acre: A Story of Napoleon's Invasion of Egypt
Napoleon's invasion of Egypt in 1798 brought the world's most fearsome army to the shores of Alexandria, and young Edgar Blagrove found himself caught between empires. Raised in Egypt by his British merchant father, Edgar possesses a rare gift: he thinks like both cultures. When he saves the life of a tribal chief's son, he's welcomed into the desert world of his friend Sidi Ben Ouafy, earning a place among men who know the sand as well as any general knows his maps. From the cataclysmic naval battle of Aboukir to the desperate defense of Acre, Edgar witnesses history unfold firsthand, his fists as ready as his wit for the dangers that closing in. Henty constructs a boy's-eye-view of empire, where loyalty is complicated and courage means choosing sides in a war that will shape the modern Middle East. The battles are vivid, the friendships are fierce, and the colonial encounter is rendered with the complexity its era could manage. For readers who grew up on adventure stories and never quite stopped craving them: this is the real thing, unspooling across ancient sands.
