Product Description

The prequel to the series, describing Sharpe's experiences in India, repackaged to tie in with the fantastic new Sharpe look. Throughout the 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.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #5873 in Books
• Published on: 1998-06-01
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 384 pages

Review
Praise for Bernard Cornwell and the Sharpe series '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 'Cornwell has maintained a marvellously high standard throughout the series!brilliantly lucid and compellingly exciting.' Evening Standard 'Bernard Cornwell knows his man, knows how to harness his qualities to the services of good fiction, and does not miss a trick!Sharpe and his creator are national treasures.' Sunday Telegraph 'The insubordinate, sarcastic and oversexed Richard Sharpe returns!Cornwell delivers the usual mix of strategy and strength -- classic battle scenes and plenty of fisticuffs.' Daily Mirror

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

From the Inside Flap
Sharpe and the rest of his battalion, along with the rising star of the general staff Arthur Wellesley, are about to embark upon the siege of Seringapatam, island citadel of the Tippoo of Mysore.

When a senior British officer is captured by the Tippoo's forces Sharpe is offered a chance to attempt a rescue, a chance he snatches in order to escape from the tyrannical Sergeant Obadiah Hakeswill. But in fleeing Hakeswill he enters the confusing, exotic and dangerous world of the Tippoo, and Sharpe will need all his wits just to stay alive, let alone save the British army from catastrophe.

Customer Reviews

And my school teachers convinced me that history was boring
The year is 1799. The location is Southern India. Richard Sharpe is a young Private soldier of 22 (give or take a year) at this point. He's not sure precisely how old he is because his mother, "a Cat Lane whore", had not passed that information on to the staff of the foundling home where he grew up. As the story begins, he's considering running away and wondering whether one of his mates and his girl can be persuaded to join his escape from the British army's 33 regiment. Life in the army is hard for a common soldier and Sharpe's life is being made even harder by his sergeant, Obadiah Hakeswill, who seems to be a psychopath. Hakeswill and Captain Morris want to sell Sharpe's girl friend to a pimp and when Hakeswill tells Sharpe so, in order to provoke him, Sharpe takes the bate and is sentenced to 2,000 lashes. Fortunately, he only receives 202 because Colonel Arthur Wellesley (later to become the Duke of Wellington) stops the flogging, not because he's a nice chap but because the army has a use for Sharpe. They want him to rescue a British officer who is being held prisoner by the Tippoo Sultan, ruler of Mysore, on the island of Seringapatam, that the British army is planning to attack. Sharpe accepts the mission and as difficult and dangerous as it is, it's a lot safer than being at the mercy of Hakeswill and Morris.

This is the 5th of Cornwell's books that I've read. I find his tales so gripping that I frequently find I'm still reading them at 4am, trying to discipline myself to close the book and get some sleep, but thinking "just to the end of this chapter", or "just a couple more pages". Sharpe's Tiger is another of his gripping, ripping yarns and a very enjoyable read. One of the things I really appreciate about Cornwell's books, is that (in the ones I've read so far at least), he writes a "Historical Note" at the end and you find that, although you've been reading fiction, it's fiction in a correct historical context. Many of the characters and events are real and have been historically documented and Cornwell is almost apologetic about slight changes he makes to real events to suit his story. Speaking of a huge, dramatic explosion that actually did happen, but in reality a couple of days before the battle began, he says, "I changed the nature of that explosion, and delayed it by two days, because fictional heroes must be given suitable employment". How true!

Not Just for the Boys
I picked up "Sharpe's Tiger" solely because I'd run out of books of my own. My husband had devoured the entire Sharpe series, but his taste in reading material isn't something we always shrare. Nevertheless, I couldn't find any better candidates among his book collection, and a quick scan assured me it would at least be a quick read.

Was I pleasantly surprised! I've since read four additional books in the series, and am working on a fifth. Bernard Cornwall makes war interesting, and the first four books (the prequels to the original series) include handy sketch maps to help keep track of things. Even details like the steps required to load a musket, which I would have expected to be achingly dull, are presented in a straightforward and entertaining manner. You never get the impression that Cornwell is trying to fill up space or show off his (obviously vast) knowledge.

Sharpe himself is a believable hero -- or would you call him an anti-hero? He's certainly no Dudley Dooright; he's lowborn, unmannered and uncultured, but you end up rooting for him just the same. The women in the series so far are usually in need of rescuing, but they aren't the typical delicate blossoms of femininity. Instead, Cornwell portrays them as intelligent, pragmatic, hard-edged, and more likely to trade in our hero for a better deal than the other way around. The only (minor) criticism I can make of this book is that Sharpe's nemesis, Hakeswill, seems a bit overboard. But nobody's perfect. ;)

Sharpe's Tiger had a tough time working its way into my reading list but, once it did, I was hooked. I'll continue with the series, and I won't be as put off by historical fiction as I was, thank's to Bernard Cornwell's talented contributions.

Life Before Portugal
When you read any of the Sharpe novels, it's difficult to believe that Bernard Cornwell wasn't there himself. The depth of the research is evident at all times, but what really strikes me is the superb way in which Cornwell manages to portray battles throughout the series (and Sharpe does get into a lot of fights).

It's good that Cornwell has chosen to extend the series leading up to Sharpe's time on the Peninsula. It's a rich source of new adventures, as he has shown in the novels leading up to Sharpe's Rifles, even if he does end up being involved in Trafalgar (but that's another story).

India is a mystical place to many, and here Cornwell paints a vivid picture of a land filled with magical intrigue but still overbearing with the discomforts of the ordinary soldier. Sharpe is once again picked out, though not as an officer. It's always nice to see him get one over on the upper class idiots running the British army, but also nice to extend his background.

The story is up to Cornwell's usual high standards and although you know all along that Sharpe will survive and succeed (due to the fact that there's a 17+ book series ahead of him), there's still some tension you feel when he gets into trouble. A true classic.