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Review
Praise for Bernard Cornwell and the Sharpe series:
'Cornwell describes military action brilliantly. He evokes all the sights and sounds and smells while managing to describe the fluctuations of the battle with enough vim to keep you in suspense…The Sharpe novels are wonderfully urgent and alive.' Daily Telegraph
‘Cornwell has maintained a marvellously high standard throughout the series…brilliantly lucid and compellingly exciting.' Evening Standard
‘Bernard Cornwell knows his man, knows how to harness his qualities to the services of good fiction, and does not miss a trick…Sharpe and his creator are national treasures.' Sunday Telegraph
'The insubordinate, sarcastic and oversexed Richard Sharpe returns…Cornwell delivers the usual mix of strategy and strength – classic battle scenes and plenty of fisticuffs.' Daily Mirror
'Great action scenes, rich in period detail, are underpinned by a feeling for the passions that shaped the Britain we know today'. Sunday Telegraph, Seven Magazine
Review
Praise for Bernard Cornwell and the Sharpe series: 'Cornwell describes military action brilliantly. He evokes all the sights and sounds and smells while managing to describe the fluctuations of the battle with enough vim to keep you in suspense!The Sharpe novels are wonderfully urgent and alive.' Daily Telegraph 'Cornwell has maintained a marvellously high standard throughout the series!brilliantly lucid and compellingly exciting.' Evening Standard 'Bernard Cornwell knows his man, knows how to harness his qualities to the services of good fiction, and does not miss a trick!Sharpe and his creator are national treasures.' Sunday Telegraph 'The insubordinate, sarcastic and oversexed Richard Sharpe returns!Cornwell delivers the usual mix of strategy and strength -- classic battle scenes and plenty of fisticuffs.' Daily Mirror 'Great action scenes, rich in period detail, are underpinned by a feeling for the passions that shaped the Britain we know today'. Sunday Telegraph, Seven Magazine
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
20 of 20 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
This book slots in between Sharpe's Escape and Sharpe's Battle and describes the build-up to the Battle of Barossa. As usual the battle sequences are brilliantly told, and Sharpe and his elite Riflemen find themselves in the thick of the action. The middle section of the book is set in Cadiz, the last outpost of Spain, besieged by the French and unwillingly playing host to the British. Sharpe has to help extricate a British diplomat from a potentially diastrous scandal, which he naturally achieves in his own inimitable style. The diplomat is Wellington's younger brother and there is an excellent scene where he eloquently defends Sharpe against the accusations of a very pompous senior officer. He refers to Sharpe's action at Assaye, where he saved Arthur Wellesley's life, and later discusses his brother's character with Sharpe in a very friendly interview which immediately endears this character to the reader as well as to Sharpe, despite his indiscreet behaviour. As usual, Sharpe has a personal mission as well as one for the army, this time hunting the man who took his lieutenant prisoner in the action at the start of the novel.
This is another great addition to the Sharpe collection, which I really enjoyed reading, though I think Cornwell may now have run out of potential fill-in novels, as he seems to have covered all the major battles. Unless he writes about Rolica and Vimeiro - I think they are the only Peninsular battles left!
This is another great addition to the Sharpe collection, which I really enjoyed reading, though I think Cornwell may now have run out of potential fill-in novels, as he seems to have covered all the major battles. Unless he writes about Rolica and Vimeiro - I think they are the only Peninsular battles left!
31 of 33 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
This book reads like two stories glued together. The first half tells the tale of how Sharpe comes to be in the service of the brother of the Duke of Wellington, who is the British ambassador in Cadiz. Wellesley Junior needs to obtain some ill-judged love-letters that he has written to a very unsuitable woman. Sharpe and his men, who have arrived in Cadiz after a bruising mission to blow up a bridge, are enlisted to aid Wellesley buy back his letters. This story, of intrigue and murder amidst the old town of Cadiz, is very well told and excitingly paced. The opening bridge-blowing adventure is also highly entertaining. As with so many other Sharpe novels, the reader is left wondering whether British officers of the day really were that stupid and pig-headed.
However, the second story of the Battle of Barossa seems like it belongs in a different novel. Even Sharpe and his men realise that as they say on several occasions "we shouldn't be here". The plotting that gets Sharpe & co onto the battlefield is very contrived (Sharpe is brave and an outstanding soldier but usually does not willingly put himself in such danger if there is no good reason to do so) and most of the action concerns a new set of characters who have only had walk-on parts (at most) in the first half of the novel.
This is not to say that the account of the Battle of Barossa is anything other than exceptionally well told, but it just belongs somewhere else. Cornwell does at least bring to life the British senior officers whose fortunes we follow (until Sharpe turns up) and his description of battle is, as always, outstanding. Perhaps the author is seeking to contrast the earlier incompetences of Sharpe's initial mission with the stout-hearted professionalism shown in this battle. There is a "baddie" from that earlier mission who Sharpe wants to polish off, but why wander around in a bloody, corps-level battle to look for a needle in a hay-stack?
So while the book is an exciting read and is full of Cornwell's usual flair for the feel of this period, the need to have Sharpe appear in every major battle of the Peninsular War is becoming a little tiresome and, in this case, unconvincing.
However, the second story of the Battle of Barossa seems like it belongs in a different novel. Even Sharpe and his men realise that as they say on several occasions "we shouldn't be here". The plotting that gets Sharpe & co onto the battlefield is very contrived (Sharpe is brave and an outstanding soldier but usually does not willingly put himself in such danger if there is no good reason to do so) and most of the action concerns a new set of characters who have only had walk-on parts (at most) in the first half of the novel.
This is not to say that the account of the Battle of Barossa is anything other than exceptionally well told, but it just belongs somewhere else. Cornwell does at least bring to life the British senior officers whose fortunes we follow (until Sharpe turns up) and his description of battle is, as always, outstanding. Perhaps the author is seeking to contrast the earlier incompetences of Sharpe's initial mission with the stout-hearted professionalism shown in this battle. There is a "baddie" from that earlier mission who Sharpe wants to polish off, but why wander around in a bloody, corps-level battle to look for a needle in a hay-stack?
So while the book is an exciting read and is full of Cornwell's usual flair for the feel of this period, the need to have Sharpe appear in every major battle of the Peninsular War is becoming a little tiresome and, in this case, unconvincing.
10 of 11 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
After reading Sharpe's Escape I was left with the strong impression that Cornwell had run out of battles to write about, but Fury proved me ecstatically wrong. For the most part the novel is in the same vein as Escape, Sharpe and his 5 riflemen out on their own fighting their own war. Entertaining but not why I got into Sharpe. The battle at the end though is a perfect example of Cornwell's finest talent, writing sprawling battles with a cast of thousands. I can now once again look forward to the next installment of Sharpe, in the hopes that he will march again. To war.
PS is it me or does nearly every chapter end with "And (noun) will/must (verb)"?!
PS is it me or does nearly every chapter end with "And (noun) will/must (verb)"?!
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
The follow on from Sharpe's Fury
Having downloaded the first 11 Sharpe books to my kindle I find that the next one to read "Sharpe's Battle" is not available on kindle. Read more
Published 6 months ago by Macca
Tales of the not-at-all Unexpected
As other reviewers have pointed out, this book feels disjointed. It reads more like three Sharpe short stories than one novel. Read more
Published 13 months ago by Mr. Ross Maynard
Sharpes fury
Another well researched and enjoyable read,I enjoyed every page. this series is a must for anyone interested in the army in the napolionic era.
Published 23 months ago by Peter K. Walker
it does what it says on the lid
If you like Richard Sharpe Novels this is return to form for an old friend . There are all the best elements . Read more
Published on 19 Jan 2010 by A. Browne
another great sharpes book
I love sharpes books anyway but it is a good read. A must for sharpes fans
Published on 7 Jan 2010 by S. Miller
disappointing
Descriptive as ever but the theme seemed forced and
not up to previous standards
not up to previous standards
Published on 27 Oct 2009 by G. R. Wells
A Rousing Account of the Battle of Barrosa Preceded by a Weak...
I would tell you to skip this book, but you deserve to read the wonderful story of the Battle of Barrosa which the British won single-handed against horrible odds while the Spanish... Read more
Published on 31 Mar 2009 by Donald Mitchell
Sharpe goes undercover
Excellent book as always, and have to say a nice break in the chain. In this book Sharpe goes undercover, meets an old 'friend' from Copenhagen, and has to be much more than a good... Read more
Published on 22 Oct 2008 by chuckles
Sharpe Slips in Again!
It's been quite some time since I last read Sharpe and I was sure that Cornwell had released a new filler book in 2007. Read more
Published on 4 Sep 2008 by D. J. Matthews
Vintage Sharpe
In the winter of 1811 all of Spain has been lost to the French, except for the coastal town of Cadiz which is being besieged by the forces of Marshal Victor. Read more
Published on 23 Sep 2007 by Didier
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