Bulldog Drummond

This book was an absolute delight to read. Hugh Drummond is such a well written character. He is like a cross between Bertie Wooster and Sherlock Holmes with the added twist of being a veteran of the recently ended World War 1, where he was the captain of his regiment for the previous four years.
The plot pitted our hero (Drummond) against the villain, Le Comte de Guy (aka 'Carl Peterson') and his beautiful daughter Irma, who have masterminded a plan – together with a group of German and Russian revolutionaries – to take over Britain.
Drummond gathers together some of his friends – ex-soldiers from his regiment - to take on the villain, along with the lovely Phyllis, whose father is being forced to help Le Comte de Guy/Carl show more Peterson.
Classic good vs evil with an intelligently written plot and two well rounded characters in the form of Hugh Drummond and Le Comte de Guy/Carl Peterson.
If I had to make one criticism it would be the ‘romance’ between Drummond and Phyllis seems to come out of nowhere, they spend less than a day together and suddenly they’re in love and want to get married. Likewise, the characters of Irma and Phyllis are almost wasted. Irma is mysterious all the way through the book and such questions as ‘what was her motivation for involving herself in the plot?’ And ‘was she really Carl Peterson’s daughter?’ are never answered. Phyllis also seemed to exist mainly to keep the plot moving along. She never popped up unless she needed help or rescuing.
If the characters of Irma and Phyllis had been as well drawn as the two male leads, this would have been a five star read. show less

I started Bulldog Drummond keenly, anticipating a good old-fashioned British adventure with lashings of `derring do'. My initial interest in the novel stems from the knowledge that my beloved P.G. Wodehouse read it and presumably enjoyed it, as he borrowed part of the plot for Leave it to Psmith. I am also a fan of `similar' works such as John Buchan's `The Thirty-Nine Steps', and G.K. Chesterton's `The Man Who Was Thursday'.

When a reader embarks on a novel with as much good-will as I did, one is prepared to overlook minor issues of style, plot and characterisation. In the first chapter, I made `allowances' for the patronising, simpleton dialogue given to Mr and Mrs Denny, Drummond's servants. They at least fare better than the Germans show more in the novel, who are credited with little more than grunting speech and greedy expressions.

`Sapper' wrote Bulldog Drummond shortly after WWI and it's reasonable to presume that he harboured anti-German sentiments (although many allied soldiers could empathise with their fellow foot soldiers in the opposing trenches).

I was however, unable to continue making excuses after reading a disturbing account of Dummond's wartime nocturnal adventures into no-man's land, where he developed a psychopathic knack for killing. He continues to indulge his murderous habits throughout the peace-time events of the story, although most of the killings are unnecessary.

The story does have some exciting moments, but on the whole it is too thin, and the author's purpose too obvious, for it to be really enjoyed. It might work better on the big screen, where one can justify an hour or two spent enjoying an implausible adventure, but I don't think I'll spend any more reading time with Sapper and his dubious psychopath hero.

In short, when looking for a classic British adventure, try Buchan, Chesterton and company instead. show less

Sapper obviously read John Buchan as Drummond owes more than a little to Buchan's Dick Hannay - he's fiercely brave, patriotic and the epitome of the Edwardian English gentlemen - but there is a Wodehousian flavour to him as well. The dialog is peppered with witticisms and I actually chuckled several times despite the sombre subject matter.

One should not be surprised when reading this kind of novel; it's of it's time - a product of the troubled, class ridden society that had just emerged from the devastation of the First World War. Anti-German sentiment is hardly surprising and, given the plot, it would be a hard tale to tell without it.

Overall a good escapist read, thoroughly entertaining and in the great spirit of Buchan, Childers et al.

Mildly exciting and an enjoyable period piece but Drummond (and the narratorial voice that so adores him) would have to be the most self-satisfied hero I have ever come across in popular/pulp fiction. And that includes James Bond.

A British WWI vet gets bored and places an ad in the paper asking for adventure. A beautiful young woman answers the ad and gets Drummond involved in rather a mess. This is pretty much like Hardy Boys for adults. Lots of action that isn't very well thought out before hand. The protagonist is constantly in danger of being snuffed out, but the bad guys keep putting off his demise, which allows him to escape continually, only to get back into danger a short time later. It's all rather silly, but makes for ok, if mindless, reading.

A fairly decent kind of detective/spy thriller about an ex-army guy fighting a foreign plot in england. Ok, but i'm not likely to read any of the follow up stories.

Group O