Sharpe’s Fury: The Battle of Barrosa, March 1811: Book 11 (The Sharpe Series)

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So when, the dust still settling after the Battle of Waterloo, the Duke of Wellington needs a favour, he turns to Sharpe. For Wellington knows that the end of one war is only the beginning of another. Napoleon's army may be defeated, but another enemy lies waiting in the shadows – a secretive group of fanatical revolutionaries hell-bent on revenge.

Sharpe is both a romantic and a womanizer. In Sharpe's Rifles, Harper notes that "He'll fall in love with anything in a petticoat. I've seen his type before. Got the sense of a half-witted sheep when it comes to women." Right after waterloo Richard Sharpe is tired of war that's what 15 years of it will do to you. He's not done though, as Lord Arthur Wellesley Duke of wellington needs him one last time. There is a secret cabal of French officers loyal to Nepoleon who swear revenge if he is defeated. Wellington not only fears for his own safety but the safety of the leaders of the Prussian and Dutch allies. He turns to his old "guttersnipe" Sharpe to destroy the cabal. Cornwell published the non-fiction book Waterloo: The History of Four Days, Three Armies and Three Battles in September 2014, timely for the 200th anniversary of the Battle of Waterloo. [2] It seemed unnatural to Sharpe. This was Paris! He had been fighting the French for twenty-one years in Flanders, India, Portugal, Spain, then in France itself, and now he was in the first group of British troops to enter the enemy’s capital, and it was nothing like his imagination. He had expected magnificence, but all looked normal, not that different from streets in some parts of London." More here, than in most of these novels, Cornwell takes the opportunity to have Sharpe reflect on his life both before, during and after his military service. This may not be the best of the series but the details of life in Paris during this period are very interesting. Sharpe is one of Cornwell’s iconic creations. He stands in for “everyman” who has been in the front lines of battle. It is his successes and the costs Sharpe has paid for those successes that constitutes the subtext of this volume. This book opens in the immediate aftermath of the battle of Waterloo, Sharpe and his men are sent into France to free a mysterious prisoner. The action then moves on to Paris, an uneasy and dangerous city in the wake of Napoleon’s defeat. It’s all good, solid ‘Boy’s Own’ stuff, though it doesn’t shy away from the brutality of 19th century warfare.Sharpe serves four uneventful years as a sergeant. In 1803, he is the sole survivor of a massacre of the garrison of a small fort carried out by a turncoat Company officer, William Dodd ( Sharpe's Triumph). Because he can identify Dodd, Sharpe is taken along by McCandless on a mission to capture and punish Dodd, to discourage others from deserting. Their search takes them first to battles at Ahmednuggur and then Assaye.

This eventful novel is the 21st chronologically, and the 22nd in total, of the amazing Richard Sharpe series.

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Sharpe's Assassin is the twenty-first [2] historical novel in the Richard Sharpe series by Bernard Cornwell, published in 2021. The story is set in June 1815, immediately after the Battle of Waterloo, and during the occupation of Paris. [3] [4] Plot summary [ edit ]

This is set right in the aftermath of Waterloo (well worth reading that again before this, you don’t need to but it provides great context). Sharpe and his troops are burying their dead and coming to terms with Napoleon’s defeat. Expecting a rest they find the Duke of Wellington has further need of Sharpe’s unique skills. A nice touch that Wellington is very clear about Sharpe and how best to use him rather than looking down at him. If you’re familiar with these books you’ll know there’s a formula. There will be an incompetent and/or cowardly officer, an ambitious young soldier or two, and the ever loyal Sergeant Harper. The story will climax in a set-piece battle against the odds in which Sharpe will triumph by a combination of skill, bravery and low cunning. This book has been a long time coming for me, I've re-read the books countless times, religiously watched the films, and always wanted more! In Cádiz , Sharpe finds himself in the employment of Henry Wellesley, younger brother of the Duke of Wellington, who is struggling to keep the various factions in Cádiz united against the French. Lending his aid, Sharpe finds himself drawn into a deadly game of intrigue between the British spymaster, Lord Pumphrey, and a shadowy murderous faction that is threatening to break the fragile alliance between Spain and Britain apart.Cornwell has told the story of Uhtred, the English heir to Bebbanburg (or Bamburgh) over 13 books; after being captured and raised by Danes, he serves Alfred and ultimately fights to reclaim his home. War Lord, which concludes the series, sees Cornwell, in his typically intelligent and brutal fashion, focus on the battle of Brunanburh in 937AD, after which the Saxons incorporated Northumbria into their own country, and England – Englaland, land of the Angles, in the novels – came into existence. The novel is dedicated to Alexander Dreymon, who plays Uhtred in the BBC and Netflix’s adaptation of The Last Kingdom, which has just been renewed for a fifth season. (Cornwell loves it, although he has had no involvement other than having his throat cut by Uhtred in one episode.)

In the late 1990s, early 2000s I worked my way through most of Bernard Cornwell’s Sharpe novels, so when he wrote another one after a gap of nearly 15 years it was always going to be on my to-read list. Before I jump into the plot, let's get reacquainted with our hero, an orphan raised in the gutters of London, recruited as a common soldier in Flanders, sent to India to fight the local rajahs, risen up from the ranks for acts of valour in battle, now a brevet Captain in a Rifle Regiment, fighting a losing battle in Portugal in the winter of 1811 against the Emperor's Army controlling almost all of the Iberic Peninsula. Don't know about anyone else, but for me the novel answers quite a few questions I had regarding Sharpe and indeed some of his men after the Battle of Waterloo. There isn't a great deal of fury going on in this eleventh (chronologically) Richard Sharpe novel, but at this point it must have started getting difficult to come up with titles? Maybe?

Killing Tipu Sultan and looting his corpse (the identity of the man who killed the sultan is unknown; like Sharpe, the soldier probably wished to remain anonymous because of the riches he acquired); the second part is hastily constructed bit where Sharpe gets one over on lord Pumphrey who had his Dutch lover Astrid killed in prey. this its the crescendo of Sharpe's off the grind espionage work. I was never a fan of Sharpe's the non battlefield escapades. but if you enjoyed PREY you will enjoy this part of FURY. Firing the shot that wounded the Prince of Orange during the Battle of Waterloo, forcing him to retire from the field (in reality, this shot was most likely fired by a French skirmisher); During the earliest (chronological) books Sharpe is a private and later sergeant, and so his uniform and weapons largely are in line with Army regulations. His first sword and officer's sash are taken from the dead in the wake of the Battle of Assaye, although no specifics are given on the weapon. Reverted to the rank of lieutenant after his gazetting as Captaincy was refused by Horse Guards and in the absence of a vacant captain's position in the South Essex.