Ten of the best battles in literature

At the Guardian, John Mullan named a list of ten of the best battles in literature.

One title on the list:

The Charterhouse of Parma, by Stendhal

Stendhal pitches his naive hero Fabrice del Dongo into the Battle of Waterloo. He finds himself surrounded by mud, smoke and the cries of dying men, and is delighted. "'I have seen shots fired!' he repeated with a sense of satisfaction. 'Now I am a real soldier.'" Stendhal does great justice to the confusion and occasional farce of warfare; his soldiers even use obscene language.

Read about another book on the list.

La Chartreuse de Parme is one of Claire Tomalin's five most important books.

--Marshal Zeringue