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Title: Sharpe's Company: The Siege of Badajoz by Bernard Cornwell ISBN: 0-14-029432-5 Publisher: Penguin USA (Paper) Pub. Date: 10 April, 2001 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $13.00 |
Average Customer Rating: 4.64 (14 reviews)
Rating: 5
Summary: Fast Paced Action/Adventure
Comment: What are some of the reasons why you read books?
* Do you like adventure? * Do you like romance? * Do you like action? * Do you like history?
If you answered yes to the above then you will enjoy Sharpe's Company. I started reading these books and I find myself having a hard time putting them down.
Sharpe's Company by Bernard Cornwell is an exciting rip-roaring adventure addition to the Sharpe series. You can see Bernard Cornwell's extensive research come to life page after page. The setting is 1812 and the British forces are re-grouping in Spain to repulse the dreaded French juggernaut led by Napoleon. Sharpe's challenge is to defeat the French forces at Badajoz, retain his rank and marry the girl of his desires. All of Sharpe's soldiers are in attendance and ready for battle.
Sharpe lost his rank due to a clerical error in England and is now a mere lieutenant. He answers to a commanding officer that has never led a battle command. The captain who replaced him is a well meaning light-weight who lets his sergeant give the orders.
Additionally, the evil Sergeant Hakeswell is back in Sharpe's life again and up to his old tricks. I don't think I can imagine of a better villain than Hakeswell. He is ugly, twisted and thoroughly evil. There are no redeeming values to his character. He wants to kill Sharpe and ruin his career. Even Sharpe's friends are in danger from this psychopath.
Where Cornwell shines is the description of the battle. He paints a picture of the siege at Badajoz so realistic that you visualize the battle and all of its horrors. His details are fascinating. For example, the advantages and disadvantages of a rifle and a musket, the uses of cannon to reduce castle walls to rubble and the siege warfare techniques of 1800s.
I wholeheartedly endorse this book.
Rating: 4
Summary: Siege + Hakeswill = Another Solid Entry
Comment: This 1813-set entry in the Napoleonic War series finds Sharpe once again battling two of his most formidable foes: bureaucracy and the thoroughly evil Sgt. Hakeswill, the man responsible for his flogging in India a decade previously. The first of these battles is a foregone conclusion, as the Horse Guards finally reject Sharpe's battlefield commission to Captain, and he is reassigned away from his company as a Lieutenant. The depression this brings about is further exacerbated by the installation of Sgt. Hakeswill in Sharpe's old company. Early on, Sharpe has a chance to kill his legendarily unkillable enemy, but chooses not to and lets him go, saying that he prefers to do so in the sight of 1,000 men, so that everyone knows the deed is done. It's one of the unlikelier plot justifications of the series, made all the more annoying by the long-term implications of that decision. The story continues with Sharpe trying to figure out how to regain a Captaincy, while dealing with the schemes of Hakeswill. This is all set against the backdrop of the siege at the fortress of Badajoz. Cornwell excels at imparting the technical and murderous side of siege warfare at the time, while remaining entertaining. His descriptions of trench-digging, shelling, and futile charges against overwhelming firepower all eerily foreshadow the horrors of France and Belgium 100 years later. For Sharpe, the storming of the fortress is a test of his courage and pride, a point which Cornwell hammers home almost to the point of parody. To top it all off, Sharpe's lover, the guerilla leader Terressa, is holed up in Badajoz, and Sharpe must race to get to her before raping and looting soldiers do. The post-siege descriptions of wholesale rape are based on historical fact, and are not for the faint of heart (or young), so be warned. Another strong entry in the series.
Rating: 5
Summary: Forever tormented Sharpe!
Comment: I actually started reading the Sharpe series starting from the India campaign (Cornwell's prequal to the regular Sharpe story) and ol' Obadiah was prevalent throughout. So I have to admit I was a little put off by, what I perceived to be, slight story changes from the prequals that I had read first.
Despite the changes (yes, I know Cornwell wrote the Peninsular War series first!), this was an extremely enjoyable book and I found myself actually yelling at the pages for Sharpe to succeed. I knew he would, but Cornwell has an excellent way of telling a story that pulls the reader into the novel and the next thing you know you're at the end.
My thanks to emilyh for putting together an outstanding chronological history of the Sharpe books. Otherwise I would have been completely lost and not have enjoyed this series as much as I have!
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Title: Sharpes Gold: Richard Sharpe and the Destruction of Almeida, August 1810 by Bernard Cornwell ISBN: 0140294317 Publisher: Penguin USA (Paper) Pub. Date: February, 2001 List Price(USD): $12.00 |
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Title: Sharpe's Honor by Bernard Cornwell ISBN: 014029435X Publisher: Penguin USA (Paper) Pub. Date: 10 April, 2001 List Price(USD): $12.00 |
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Title: Sharpes Eagle by Bernard Cornwell ISBN: 0140294309 Publisher: Penguin USA (Paper) Pub. Date: February, 2001 List Price(USD): $12.00 |
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Title: Sharpe's Siege: Richard Sharpe and the Winter Campaign, 1814 by Bernard Cornwell ISBN: 0140294376 Publisher: Penguin USA (Paper) Pub. Date: 01 October, 2001 List Price(USD): $12.00 |
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Title: Sharpe's Battle: Spain 1811 by Bernard Cornwell ISBN: 0060932287 Publisher: Perennial Pub. Date: 16 December, 2003 List Price(USD): $12.95 |
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