Sharpe's Command: The latest thrilling adventure from the best-selling master of historical fiction, the perfect gift for Christmas 2023

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They are behind enemy lines, intent on preventing the French from crossing the bridge to reinforce one of their forts which is soon to be under British siege. Cornwell is best known for his ongoing ’Sharpe’ series, which traces the career of Richard Sharpe in the British Army during the Napoleonic Wars – a series directly inspired by C.

In the doing, he has to contend with the French, a braggadocious Spanish partisan named El Hero who might have his own loyalties, and the inherently dangerous act of an escalade (scaling a ladder over a wall as part of an assault, not the grotesquely large SUV). this is indicative of the entire novel- interactions and scenarios that are literally repeated multiple times, even among the action pieces, like Daniel Hagman asking if he can but a ball in someone's head. Douglas Smith was born in New York City and attended the Rhode Island School of Design, earning his BFA in Illustration in 1974, having also studied sculpture, painting and printmaking.Lastly, the historical narrative in play for this one too is very lean, covering just weeks in the peninsular war and rounded out with a half-baked antagonist. And only Sharpe - with just his cunning, his courage and a small band of rogues to rely on - stands in their way. And we get to read about the dear departed Mrs Sharpe having a particularly brutal duel with a partisan. Over the years I've enjoyed Bernard Cornwell's books - have them all, filling one bookcase and spilling out onto the floor in several stacks.

Sharpe a likeable rogue as ever and it's great to see the switch to a more typical war story after the espionage of Sharpe's Assassin.A series of contemporary thrillers with sailing as a background and common themes followed: Wildtrack published in 1988, Sea Lord (aka Killer's Wake) in 1989, Crackdown in 1990, Stormchild in 1991, and Scoundrel, a political thriller, in 1992. I have not read any of the prior works to the present edition, so I am only aware on how the characters performed their roles in this novel. It’s so obvious that the publishers were desperate for a new novel that’s what Bernard did, only he wrote it in daze. To mark Folio’s 75th anniversary, Michael Ende’s The Neverending Story is published as a magical new edition, beautifully illustrated by award-winning artist Marie-Alice Harel and bursting with exquisite design details.

I think competent enemies could have increased tension in a book that takes place between other books and whose characters' fates are already known. It's clear to me that either Cornwell or his publisher no longer really care about Sharpe, because neither appear to have a continuity checker. Here, we have a bridge that has to be destroyed, and destroying it requires the capture or destruction of certain Frenchie forts. The latest thrilling adventure from the best-selling master of historical fiction, the perfect gift for Christmas 2023 --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title. Whether writing about Waterloo, Assaye or any of the less celebrated battles that form the backbone of Sharpe’s adventures, Cornwell is rightly celebrated for his historical accuracy and his ability to capture the frenetic chaos of war and bloodshed.And only Sharpe – with just his cunning, his courage and a small band of rogues to rely on – stands in their way . The assignment is not easy because Sharpe and his riflemen do battle with the French; the latter not well-trained and their officer is not too good in strategizing. This book uses the real-life Battle of Almaraz which took place 18-19 May 1812 where the British and Portuguese were fighting the French in Almaraz, Spain. The master of historical military fiction delivers another unputdownable entry in the mega-selling Sharpe series as Britannia puts her faith in our maverick hero to defend her troops from French forces in early nineteenth-century Spain.

Bernard Cornwell brings all his considerable descriptive skill to bear on the infamous Battle of Assaye, described by General Arthur Wellesley himself as the battle of which he was most proud. In Sharpe’s Command, Sharpe kills Frenchies again, but it is offhandly (and in somewhat unworldly numbers – he’d hardly have achieved a better kill rate if his detachment had been armed with an Bren Gun). Sharpe has to deal with an informant to the French, who would probably squeal on his mother for gold bits. He was doubtless quoting from Sun Tzu’s Strategy of War: ‘To subdue the enemy without fighting is the supreme excellence.

But the journey inevitably leads him towards a fateful showdown, as General Wellesley prepares to command his first field battle, a daring and desperate conflict that will leave a bloody mark on the pages of history itself and change Sharpe’s destiny forever. This is set back in the middle of the Peninsular War - The Bridge at Alamaraz in May 1812 to be precise - putting it after Sharpe's Company (The Siege of Badajoz, January - April 1812) but before Sharpe's Sword (the Salamanca Campaign of June and July 1812). Like most of the books in the series, there is not a lot of character development, the author relies most on action to tell the story. And the Lieutenant, Love, had own personality at the start and then when he re-emerged at the end, he was like a completely different character.