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The Age of Sail & Steam was a generation during which the world saw a pairing of old and new technologies before one would render obsolete the other. My stories of Napoleon's South America are set in an alternate history that revolves around that period of time. In my world, Napoleon Bonaparte escaped final exile, put off his great reward by two decades, and the Napoleonic Wars continued on, moving from the Old World to the New. Inspired by the works of C. S. Forester, James Clavell, Bernard Cornwell, Richard Woodman, and many others, I wanted to carry the great naval adventures of the Napoleonic Wars into the Age of Sail & Steam.
The inspiration from doing so came from a brief passage in Donald Thomas’ Cochrane, Britannia’s Last Sea King. The book is a highly detailed and engaging examination at Thomas Cochrane's exploits. Cochrane lived the sort of life that one would not find credible were it presented as a work of fiction. Cochrane's mind was fertile and energetic. One of the seeds it bore was an idea to set the exiled Bonaparte loose upon a Latin America that was in the turmoil of its struggles for independence from its European progenitors.
I am not a historian, simply an enthusiastic amateur. That in mind, I make no serious attempt to predict 'What If . . .' My goal is to write a 'ripping good yarn'; a scenario in which Napoleonic adventures would continue on into the Age of Sail and Steam - the great sea battles of the early nineteenth century fought using paddle wheel steamers.
While the overall historical events have changed, I try to do my homework and have remained true to the cultural and societal context and historical details that would not be effected by Napoleon's South America. I also try to reasonably and logically extrapolate those details that would be changed. As for those details that do not seem reasonably extrapolated or are just plain wrong, hearing about those from my readers is the fun of writing them. I try to make up logical reasons for these issues within the context of my world, but I am also happy to admit when I get it wrong - well, maybe not happy. Comments and criticisms, constructive or otherwise are appreciated.
My books are published by Third Millennium Publishing and can be purchased from their web site. They are also available through Amazon.com and are in Amazon Kindle format.
I am a member of the Historical Novel Society, http://www.historicalnovelsociety.org/. For those with an interest in historical fiction, please visit their web site.
Click here to buy Scott Langley's books
