Thursday 12 August 2010

Sharpe's Rifles by Bernard Cornwell

'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

'The insubordinate, sarcastic...Richard Sharpe returns!Cornwell delivers the usual mix of strategy and strength -- classic battle scenes and plenty of fisticuffs.' Daily Mirror

This is the prequel to the series, describing Sharpe's experiences in India, and is the place to start exploring Sharpe's world...
Throughout the earlier series, there are references to Sharpe's early soldiering life in India. With the same meticulous research and attention to detail that is found in the Peninsular War books, Bernard Cornwell has sumptuously recreated the 1799 campaign against Seringapatam which made the British masters of southern India, a campaign that pitted brutalized soldiers against an ancient and splendid civilization.

Sharpe, the rest of his battalion and rising star of the general staff Arthur Wellesley, are about to embark upon the siege of the island citadel of the Tippoo of Mysore, Seringapatam. The British must remove this potentate from his Tiger Throne, but he has gone to great lengths to defend his city from attack.

 When a senior British officer is captured by the Tippoo's forces, Sharpe is offered a chance to attempt a rescue and infiltrate the Tippoo's forces. Sharpe needs no invitation to get away from the tyrannical Sergeant Hakeswill, but once inside the dangerous world of the Tippoo he realises he will need all his wits just to stay alive, let alone save the British army from catastrophe.

Set against the background of dazzling wealth, ruinous poverty, gorgeous palaces, sudden cruelty and pitiless battles, 'Sharpe's Tiger' is his greatest adventure yet.

About the Author

Bernard Cornwell was born in London, raised in Essex, and now lives mainly in the USA with his wife. He has 20 Sharpe adventures behind him, plus a series about the American Civil War, the Starbuck novels; an enormously successful trilogy about King Arthur, The Warlord Chronicles; the Hundred Years War set Grail Quest series; and his current series about King Alfred.

To find out more about the author and his many other adventure books click here...

No comments:

Post a Comment