Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #5437 in Books
• Published on: 2000-12-04
• Binding: Paperback
• 448 pages

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`A mighty battle conveyed with convincing clarity'

Synopsis
Richard Sharpe and the Waterloo Campaign, 15 June to 18 June 1815. It is 1815. Sharpe is serving on the personal staff of the inexperienced and incompetent Young Frog, William, Prince of Orange, who has been given command of a large proportion of the Allied force. More concerned with cutting a dash at a grand society ball in Brussels, the Young Frog refuses to listen to Sharpe's scouting reports of an enormous army marching towards them with the lately returned Napoleon at its head. When the Battle of Waterloo commences, Sharpe has to stand by and watch military folly on a grand scale. But at the height of the conflict, just as victory seems impossible, he makes a momentous decision. With his usual skill, courage and determination he takes command and the most hard-fought and bloody battle of his career becomes Sharpe's own magnificent triumph.

About the Author
Born in Essex in 1944 Bernard Cornwell was adopted at the age of six weeks by two members of a strict fundamentalist sect called the Peculiar People. He grew up in a household that forbade alcohol, cigarettes, dances, television, conventional medicine and toy guns. Not surprisingly, he developed a fascination for military adventure. As a teenager he devoured CS Forester's Hornblower novels and tried to enlist three times. Poor eyesight put paid to his dream, instead he went to university to read theology. On graduating, he became a teacher, then joined BBC's Nationwide, working his way up the ladder to become head of current affairs at BBC Northern Ireland, then editor of Thames News. In 1979, his life changed when he fell in love with an American. "Judy couldn't live here, so I gave up my job and moved to the US. I couldn't get a green card, and for 18 months the only thing I could do was write novels." The result was his first book about 19th century hero, Richard Sharpe, SHARPE'S EAGLE. Today with 16 Sharpe adventures behind him and worldwide sales of over 2 million, plus a series about the American Civil War, the Starbuck novels, and an enormously successful trilogy about King Arthur, The Warlord Chronicles. Bernard Cornwell owns houses in Cape Cod and Florida and two boats. Every year he takes two months off from his writing and spends most of his time on his 24 foot Cornish crabber, Royalist.

Customer Reviews

Brilliant!!!!!!
I have never read a book which has made me jump forward a half a page at a time because I can't stand the suspense. Crazy, I'm flicking forward in a panic to read the account of something of which I already know the outcome.

As an earlier review has already explained, this is the well told story of the battle with a bit of Sharpe thrown in. Who cares, brilliant!!

Prime stuff, Sharpe's finest hour!
I've read quite a few books, both fiction and non-fiction, about the Napoleonic wars in general and Waterloo specifically but in the fiction-category this is probably the best. If you've read the 17 preceding Sharpe-novels you'll be glad to learn that many of the familiar characters of those novels are present at Sharpe's finest hour, the plot is as thrilling as ever (as Cornwell himself says in the foreword, he just stuck to the dramatic events as they unfolded themselves in reality, that's as good a plot as any author could invent), and the book is filled cover to cover with action scenes.

I'm not sure if I'll be reading "Sharpe's Devil" soon because this book is so good and so natural an end to the joint adventures of Sharpe and the Duke of Wellington, which have provided me with many happy hours of reading for precious little money, that for the time being I'm content to let it rest at that.

If you read nothing but this single book featuring Sharpe you'll be treated to a rare experience, and if you decide to read the entire series all the more so.

My favourite Sharpe novel
I love all 21 of the Sharpe novels and have read them all (plus Cornwells other works) often, but this one has to be my favourite one.

Sharpe has been attached to the young and inexperience Prince of Oranges staff and through this position the reader gets to see and experience most of this spectacular battle. Of course Harper is there, but technically as a civillian and Sharpe's beloved South Essex battalion.

If you are interested in the battle of Waterloo then you could do far worse than start your studies with this book as its packed with information about the battle and it inspired me to visit the actual battlefield in Belgium recently. Read and enjoy.