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Sharpe's Prey (The Sharpe Series): The Expedition to Copenhagen, 1807 (The Sharpe Series, Book 5)

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In the first run of the television adaptations, Simmerson, played by Michael Cochrane, appears in Sharpe's Eagle (1993), Sharpe's Sword (1995) and Sharpe's Regiment (1996). His appearances in Eagle and Regiment remain faithful to the novel versions, while his appearance in Sword is a creation of the show's writers, since that story was largely re-vamped from the novel. His first name is never revealed in the series and in fact a joke is made of this in his final scene, with Hagman asking him what it is. Sir William Lawford is a fictional British officer and a character in Bernard Cornwell's Sharpe books.

As a result of this close encounter with death, Hakeswill was convinced that he was unkillable and protected by God and the spirit of his mother. He extended this reverence to mothers in general, "Mothers were sacred... Mothers were Obadiah Hakeswill's guardian angels" ( Sharpe's Tiger) and in Sharpe's Enemy, he protects his hostage Josefina LaCosta when she lies that she came to a church in the town of Adrados to pray for the health of her own mother. Sharpe's Enemy also hints that Hakeswill's mother was actually abusive of him before his hanging, but those memories have been eclipsed by his belief that she sent his uncle to save him.

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Author Bernard Cornwell has admitted that he regrets finishing the character off, as he has struggled since to create an antagonist of equal depravity and energy. Leroy is the last Commanding Officer of the South Essex, before its change of name to the Prince of Wales' Own Volunteers, commanded by Lt. Col Bartholomew Girdwood ( Sharpe's Regiment). Sharpe is frequently employed (with or without his men) to carry out small scale secret operations for Hogan – for example, destroying a bridge in Sharpe's Eagle, capturing a renegade exploring officer in Sharpe's Havoc, retrieving treasure vital to the war effort in Sharpe's Gold, retrieving hostages in Sharpe's Enemy and uncovering or capturing French spies in Sharpe's Battle, Sharpe's Sword and Sharpe's Siege. Denmark is neutral, but has a powerful fleet. Napoleon wants it to replace the ships France lost at the Battle of Trafalgar, and Britain is equally determined to see to it that does not happen. Lavisser's task is to bribe the Danish crown prince to hand over the fleet for safekeeping. (Lavisser's grandfather is the prince's chamberlain, and they are also related by marriage.) If that fails, the British will have to seize the ships by force. Cornwell had enjoyed C. S. Forester's Horatio Hornblower novels, which depict a Royal Navy officer's career from midshipman to Admiral of the Fleet and retirement. When he could not find a similar series for the British Army, he decided to write it himself. As a further inducement, he had fallen in love with an American woman who, for various reasons, could not leave the United States, so he relocated. He could not get a green card or work permit, so he wrote the first Sharpe novel to make a living.

On transfer to the 95th Rifles, Sharpe becomes a second lieutenant, equivalent in rank to an ensign, as the Rifles do not have ensigns. He enjoys a successful second career in Dublin as a horse dealer (many of which are stolen) and owner of a public house. In the novels Cooper first appeared in Sharpe's Prey and was one of the original men of Major Dunnett participating in the Battle of Copenhagen alongside Harper, and Harris. He made an appearance in Sharpe's Rifles and on the retreat to Corunna. Rifleman Smith first appeared in Sharpe's Battle [18] however he would have accompanied Sharpe in the retreat to Corunna but was he was never mentioned in Sharpe's Rifles. He fought in the First Battle of Oporto [4] and also partook in the Second Battle of Oporto which he survived. Smith fought with Sharpe in the Battle at Talavera although he was not mentioned in Sharpe's Eagle. He also participated in the destruction of Almeida but wasn't mentioned in Sharpe's Gold and also partook in Sharpe's Escape during the battle of Bussaco. He partook in the Battle of Fuentes de Oñoro in and went to fight with Sharpe in the Siege of Ciudad Rodrigo and the Siege of Badajoz. He went on to fight in the Battle of Salamanca in Sharpe's Sword but he wasn't mentioned. Smith went onto fight alongside Sharpe in Sharpe's Enemy but he wasn't mentioned at all. Smith wasn't mentioned in Sharpe's Honour, Regiment, Christmas, Siege, Revenge, or Waterloo. Either Smith did not fight at Waterloo or he was killed prior to the battle.While the company was under siege at San Isidro in Sharpe's Battle, he reveals that as a boy he spent a year down a coal mine in Derbyshire. He hated the mine, and was frightened from the moment he entered the shaft. He also said working girls used to come down the mine and work their trade among the men. A girl called Dwarf Babs who charged a penny, was his first woman, "And she didn't even charge me." He figured that if his father had not died about then, which had his mother moving to Handbridge to live with her sister, he'd have been there still - or dead, since life expectancy in the mines was about thirty. At the end of the novel, when the South Essex is positioned on the British flank during the Battle of Talavera, Simmerson panics and starts to withdraw the regiment, before he is ignominiously relieved from his post by William Lawford. Finding the boats that allowed Wellesley's forces to ambush Marshal Nicolas Soult's forces at the Second Battle of Porto (Cornwell notes that in reality a Portuguese barber approached the British forces of his own volition rather than being sent across by Sharpe);

Struggling to come up with a name as distinctive as Horatio Hornblower, he used a placeholder based on the rugby union player Richard Sharp; eventually, he kept it, just adding an "e". [1] The author had intended to write 11 novels, the same number as in the Hornblower series, ending with Sharpe's Waterloo, but later changed his mind and continued writing. The year is 1807; Lieutenant Richard Sharpe is planning to leave the army. Against his better judgment, he is persuaded to accompany the Hon John Lavisser to Copenhagen in what is essentially an act of political skulduggery: they are to deliver a bribe and (hopefully) avert a war. But with the French ensuring that Europe remains at boiling point, Sharpe finds himself protecting his charge against French agents and struggling to ensure that the Danish battle fleet is not used to replace every French ship destroyed at Trafalgar. Sharpe is a character we know well and like, and his customary characteristics (tenacity, bloody-mindedness) are well to the fore here, but, as always, the other characters are equally strikingly drawn: Lavisser is a splendidly complex figure, as are several of Sharpe's nemeses. But it's that wonderfully adroit orchestration of action and plot that keeps the pulse racing, with the bombardment of Copenhagen and the massive bloodshed resulting in a truly impressive set piece: Sharpe, from his vantage point on the dune, could see the smoke wreathing the wall. The city's copper spires and red roofs showed above the churning cloud. A dozen houses were burning there, fired by the Danish shells that hissed across the canal. Three windmills had their sales tethered against the blustering wind that blew the smoke westwards and fretted the moored fleet to the north of Copenhagen. After General Harris and General Baird send Private Sharpe and Lieutenant William Lawford to rescue McCandless and his information he is almost shot by Sharpe as the Tippoo tells Sharpe to kill McCandless to prove his loyalty. Sharpe fires but McCandless survives due to the Tippoo's use of fake gunpowder.This article needs editing to comply with Wikipedia's Manual of Style. In particular, it has problems with MOS:CONTRACTIONS. Please help improve the content. ( November 2021) ( Learn how and when to remove this template message) Nairn appears in all three episodes of Sharpe's second series, comprising Sharpe's Enemy and adaptations of Sharpe's Company and Sharpe's Honour. His character is recreated as a Major (rather than a major general), who effectively fulfills the same duties as Hogan in the novels – the chief of Wellington's espionage operations. However, a year later, in Sharpe's Revenge, as a Colonel, Rossendale takes advantage of Sharpe's arrest for theft to embark on an affair with his wife, Jane, while also laying waste to Sharpe's considerable fortune.

Although Hogan's role as spymaster requires him to be at times both ruthless and duplicitous, he is a good friend to Sharpe throughout the series, often protecting him from official censure and advancing his career.Sharpe is often portrayed as the driving force in a number of pivotal historical events. Cornwell admits to taking license with history, placing Sharpe in the place of another man whose identity is lost to history or sometimes "stealing another man's thunder." Such accomplishments include: Hogan is promoted to major in 1809, and thereafter appears to head the British intelligence network in the Iberian Peninsula. This was at a time when there was no formal military intelligence unit and Hogan's role is a good illustration of the sort of ad hoc arrangements used by the British in the field in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries.

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