The Gun (novel)

{{short description|1933 historical novel by C. S. Forester}} {{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}} {{Infobox book |name = The Gun |image = TheGun.jpg |caption = First edition |author = [[C.S. Forester]] |cover_artist = |language = English |genre = [[Historical fiction]] |publisher = [[The Bodley Head]] |release_date = 1933 |pages = |isbn = }}

'''''The Gun''''' is a [[novel]] by [[C.S. Forester]] about an imaginary series of incidents involving a single eighteen-pounder [[cannon]] during the [[Peninsular War]] (1807–1814). The book was first published in 1933 and has as its background the brutal war of liberation of [[History of Spain#War of Spanish Independence|Spanish]] and [[History of Portugal (1777–1834)#Napoleonic invasions|Portuguese]] forces (regular and partisans) and their British allies against the occupying armies of [[Napoleon Bonaparte|Napoleonic France]].<ref>{{cite book|last=Sternlicht|first=Sanford|title=C.S. Forester and the Hornblower saga|year=1999|publisher=Syracuse University Press|isbn=0-8156-0621-4|page=[https://archive.org/details/isbn_9780815606215/page/76 76]|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/isbn_9780815606215/page/76}}</ref>

As the story begins, the titular huge bronze cannon is abandoned by the remnants of a regular Spanish army retreating after their defeat in the [[Battle of Espinosa]]. The local people wish to employ it in their resistance against the French, but are eventually forced to hide it away beneath a pile of stone to prevent its capture. Years later, a group of [[Guerrilla warfare|guerrillero]]s learn of its location and conscript the locals to outfit it with carriage and train. Over time, the gun is used in battle with ever-increasing success. It falls under the control of a series of guerrilla leaders; each achieves strong leadership through his connection to the gun, and each is eventually killed in some way (captured and executed, killed in battle, killed by rival leaders), until the gun finally comes under the control of the 18-year-old Jorge, who emerges as an untrained but naturally gifted leader and tactician. The exploits of the Spanish irregulars under Jorge eventually lead to the diversion of a large body of elite French troops from reinforcing the army opposing the Peninsular allies under the [[Duke of Wellington]]. The loose alliance of guerrilleros are scattered but the ultimate defeat of the French invaders is now in sight. The gun is destroyed but has changed history.

The book vividly portrays the violence of combat and the brutality displayed by both sides in the Peninsular War.

==Adaptations== *The novel was adapted into the large budget [[feature film]] ''[[The Pride and the Passion]]'' (1957), starring [[Cary Grant]], [[Frank Sinatra]], and [[Sophia Loren]].<ref>{{cite book|last=D'Ammassa|first=Don|title=Encyclopedia of adventure fiction|year=2009|publisher=Infobase Publishing|isbn=978-0-8160-7573-7|page=61|chapter=Forester, C.S.}}</ref> *It was adapted for radio by [[Mike Walker (radio dramatist)|Mike Walker]] on 12 March 2011 and broadcast on [[BBC Radio 4]]'s ''Saturday Play'' program. The cast included [[Scott Arthur (actor)|Scott Arthur]] as Jorge, [[Matthew Gravelle (actor)|Matthew Gravelle]] as El Balbanito, [[Keiron Self]] as Isadore, [[Don Gilet]] as Carlos O'Neill, [[Kevin Doyle (actor)|Kevin Doyle]] as Father Bernard, [[Sule Rimmi]] as Duke Alonso and Richard Nicholls as Urquiola.

==References== {{Reflist}}

==External links== * [https://books.google.com/books?id=HuixFjbwPwAC The Gun] Google Books

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gun (novel), The}} [[Category:Historical novels]] [[Category:1933 British novels]] [[Category:1933 English-language novels]] [[Category:Novels set during the Napoleonic Wars]] [[Category:The Bodley Head books]] [[Category:Novels by C. S. Forester]] [[Category:British novels adapted into films]] [[Category:Cultural depictions of Horatio Nelson]]