Etienne Gerard, colonel of Hussars, is the bravest man in France and the vainest, and he tells you so himself — through Venice, Saragossa, the retreat from Russia, an English fox-hunt he wins with a sabre, and Waterloo. Conan Doyle thought Gerard his best work and preferred him to Holmes; the joke is built with real affection, because Gerard is a fool about everything except courage, and about that he is never wrong. Fifty-seven plates of cavalry, battle and horseflesh by painters including Géricault and Gillray run from 1780 to 1890, matching Gerard's sabre-and-saddle world.
