I am a Sharpe enthusiast and have read every one of the novels from India to South America. The battle scenes are magnificent, and have evidently been meticulously researched by Mr.Cornwell. I have personally visited many of the battlefields where Sharpe and his colleagues fought, including Fuentes D'Onoro, on the Spanish/Portugese border, where "Battle" is set. Having walked up from the Dos Casas stream through the village to the Church and the ridge beyond, for me there is no more evocative Sharpe story than this one - the description of the bitter struggle up through the narrow streets is unsurpassed, as is the account of the magnificent rescue and withdrawal involving the Light Division, the 7th Division and the Horse Artillery. This is as good as it gets, and if you only ever read one Sharpe novel, this is (for me at least) the one.