The Gun is a novel

Novel

A novel is a book of long narrative in literary prose. The genre has historical roots both in the fields of the medieval and early modern romance and in the tradition of the novella. The latter supplied the present generic term in the late 18th century....

 by C.S. Forester about an imaginary series of incidents involving a single eighteen-pound cannon

Cannon

A cannon is any piece of artillery that uses gunpowder or other usually explosive-based propellents to launch a projectile. Cannon vary in caliber, range, mobility, rate of fire, angle of fire, and firepower; different forms of cannon combine and balance these attributes in varying degrees,...

 during the Spanish

Spain

Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...

 Peninsular War

Peninsular War

The Peninsular War was a war between France and the allied powers of Spain, the United Kingdom, and Portugal for control of the Iberian Peninsula during the Napoleonic Wars. The war began when French and Spanish armies crossed Spain and invaded Portugal in 1807. Then, in 1808, France turned on its...

 against Napoleon Bonaparte. It was made into a movie in 1957, under the title The Pride and the Passion

The Pride and the Passion

The Pride and the Passion is a historical film drama starring Cary Grant, Frank Sinatra and Sophia Loren made by Stanley Kramer Productions. Set in the Napoleonic era, it is the story of a British officer who has orders to retrieve a huge cannon from Spain and take it to the British forces by ship...

.

The story begins explaining how the huge bronze cannon is abandoned by the army retreating from the Battle of Espinosa

Battle of Espinosa

The Battle of Espinosa was a battle of the Napoleonic Wars, fought on November 10 and November 11, 1808 at the township of Espinosa de los Monteros in the Cantabrian Mountains...

 when its carriage falls on its side. It is hidden away beneath a pile of stone but is not recovered. Years later, a group of guerrilleros learn of its location and conscript the locals to outfit it with carriage and train. The story continues as the gun is used in battle and the people with whom it comes in contact. Although the characters around the gun change, the story has the artillery piece at its centre throughout.

Other Adaptations

• The story was adapted for radio by Mike Walker
  Mike Walker (radio dramatist)
  Mike Walker is a radio dramatist and feature and documentary writer. His radio work includes both original plays and adaptations of novels, classical and modern...
  
   on 12 March 2011 and broadcast on BBC Radio 4
  BBC Radio 4
  BBC Radio 4 is a British domestic radio station, operated and owned by the BBC, that broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes, including news, drama, comedy, science and history. It replaced the BBC Home Service in 1967. The station controller is currently Gwyneth Williams, and the...
  
  's Saturday Play program. The cast included Scott Arthur as Jorge, Matthew Gravelle as El Balbanito, Keiron Self
  Keiron Self
  Keiron Self Born 1971 in Newport, Wales, is a Welsh actor and writer most famous for playing Roger Bailey Jnr in the BBC sitcom My Family. His other acting credits include Casualty, Lucky Bag and playing PC Claude Cox in the sitcom High Hopes. He has also provided the voice of Police Chief Llunos...
  
   as Isadore, Don Gilet
  Don Gilet
  Don Gilet is a British actor, best known for his roles in BBC productions Babyfather, EastEnders and 55 Degrees North. Don's surname is actually pronounced 'Gillit' but takes the stage name 'Jillay'.-Personal life:...
  
   as Carlos O'Neill, Kevin Doyle
  Kevin Doyle (actor)
  Kevin Doyle is a British actor. He is known for playing as John Parr in the TV series The Lakes and for playing the Crawley's servant Joseph Molesley in the TV series Downton Abbey, as well as many other roles.-Stage:...
  
   as Father Bernard, Sule Rimmi as Duke Alonso and Richard Nicholls as Urquiola.

External links

• The Gun Google Books