He becomes a highly skilled and experienced leader of light troops. Sharpe is described as "brilliant but wayward" in Sharpe's Sword, and he is portrayed by the author as a "loose cannon". Cornwell sees to it that he is improbably present at many important battles of the British Empire at the end of the 18th century and the beginning of the 19th, including the Battle of Waterloo. It is a mixed blessing, as he constantly has to fight class prejudice in an army where an officer's rank is often purchased without regard to qualification. He is made an officer, an ensign, when he saves the life of his commanding officer, Arthur Wellesley (the future Duke of Wellington), during the Battle of Assaye. He has to flee the city after killing a man to protect Maggie.Įnlisting in the army, he is promoted to sergeant as a reward for completing a highly dangerous spying mission in India. He is eventually taken in by prostitute (and later bar owner) Maggie Joyce and becomes a thief.
Orphaned at an early age, he grows up in poverty. Sharpe is born to a whore in the rookeries of London. His military career ends with the final defeat of Napoleon, but he has more adventures as a civilian. He begins in Sharpe's Tiger as a private in the 33rd Regiment of Foot who is continually promoted, finally rising to lieutenant colonel in Sharpe's Waterloo. The stories formed the basis for an ITV television series featuring Sean Bean in the title role.Ĭornwell's series is composed of many novels and several short stories, and charts Sharpe's progress in the British Army during the Napoleonic Wars, though the novels were published in non-chronological order. Sharpe is a series of historical fiction stories by Bernard Cornwell centred on the character of British soldier Richard Sharpe. Dominique Lassan (with Lucille Castineau).Patrick-Henri Lassan (with Lucille Castineau).
What will also feature for Sharpe and the British Army is the Siege of Seringapatam of AD 1799, and where the British will be successful in their endeavour under the leadership of a young Arthur Wellesley, later to become known as Lord Wellington, and other important senior officers. When A British Officer gets captured by the Tippoo of Mysore's forces, private soldier Sharpe is called into action to rescue this Officer.Īs a result of this undertaking Sharpe will enter a dangerous world of the Tippoo, and he will need all his wits and cunning to make this mission a success. Set in the year AD 1799, our main protagonist, Richard Sharpe, finds himself in India with the British forces under the tyrannical Sergeant Obadiah Hakeswill. Read this book in 2006, and its the 1st part, chronologically, of the great Richard Sharpe series, from the author, Bernard Cornwell.
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