Product Description

The twentieth instalment in the bestselling Sharpe series. Sharpe's Escape takes place in the summer of 1810, once again in the Peninsular War. The French are mounting their third and most dangerous invasion of Portugal. Captain Richard Sharpe with his company of redcoats and riflemen meets the invaders on the gaunt ridge of Bussaco. But there, despite a stunning British victory, the French are not stopped and the army have to fall back. Sharpe has made enemies among the Portuguese and during the retreat through Coimbra, he and Sergeant Harper are lured into a trap designed to kill them. With the help of an Englishwoman, Sharpe survives, but is cut off from the army. He has to rejoin his regiment if the command is not to fall to the ambitious Lieutenant Slinbsby. At the Lines of Torres Vedras, the vast defences built to stop the French before Lisbon, Sharpe confronts his enemies in a climactic battle.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #236746 in Books
• Published on: 2004-03-29
• Original language: English
• Binding: Hardcover
• 288 pages

Amazon.co.uk Review
There's no question that Bernard Cornwell's ever-growing magnum opus consists of his books featuring the doughty soldier Richard Shape, of which Sharpe's Escape is the 20th title. All the elements that aficionados look for in Cornwell's books are firmly and satisfyingly in place. The year is 1810, and the British Army is struggling against the confident French, who are assailing Portugal once again. As British soldiers cross into Spain, they find a hunger-ridden, depleted land. In the middle of the chaos is Captain of the Light Company, Richard Sharpe, who has found a new nemesis in Ferragus, a duplicitous Portuguese man well-connected with the French invaders. However, the battle between the two men takes a more dangerous turn, when Sharpe, no longer with his regiment, takes some unorthodox routes to prosecute his personal battle. With only his ex-colleague, the reliable Sergeant Harper and a Portuguese ally, Jorge Vicente, to help confront myriad enemies, the Sharpe/Ferragus duel is fought through the ruined streets of Coimbra and on to Lisbon, as Wellington mounts a coup de grace against the French.

Bernard Cornwell fans know what to expect: vivid scene-setting and pithy historical detail (never artificially freighted in, always comfortably ensconced), exhilarating action set-pieces, and (riding above it all) the larger-than-life figure of Richard Sharpe, realised with real bravura. --Barry Forshaw

Review
'The Richard Sharpe novels are notable for their wonderfully astringent view of history. Sharpe is a man first and a patriot second: he is as likely to pick a fight with one of his own side as charge blindly towards the enemy.' Sunday Telegraph'No one is better than Bernard Cornwell in describing battles large and small, howitzer fire, cavalry charges or bayonet attacks.' Evening Standard

Cornwell's excellent long-running Sharpe series (Sharpe's Havoc, 2003, etc.) takes the soldiers' soldier to real-life battles around Bussaco and Coimbra, Portugal. Having imposed Napoleonic and imperial peace everywhere else in Europe, the Corsican monster has sent his troops to sew up what remains unconquered on the Iberian Peninsula. But, zut!, the Portuguese will not roll over. Lord Wellington-on his way to that Iron Dukedom-has dug in for the long haul, contrary to the French and occasional Portuguese belief that the English will cut and run for their ships when things get the least bit tough. Wellington's forces have secretly constructed a series of forts and battlements that extend from the Tagus River to the Atlantic, completely protecting Lisbon and its monarch. He has also instituted a scorched earth policy throughout the countryside, ordering the destruction of every bit of food and provision that might allow the French to dig in and stay. While carrying out those orders near the university city of Coimbra, Captain Sharpe encounters the treacherous Ferreira brothers, one a turncoat officer, the other a hulking sadist with a thriving business in slaves and prostitutes. The Ferreiras have been caught with a stash they were planning to sell to the Frogs, and when Sharpe puts the supplies to the torch he incurs the murderous wrath of Ferragus, the criminal kingpin, a fury that will plague the captain every bit as much as the Emperor's armies. Further complication comes from the awful Lieutenant Slingsby, a minor county boozer who cynically married the pregnant sister-in-law of Sharpe's commanding officer and now expects to move into Sharpe's position. Everything comes to a boil in Coimbra, where Ferragus has a warehouse secretly stuffed with enough supplies to keep the French fed for a good long siege of Lisbon and where Sharpe falls into a trap laid by the brute. He will emerge with the assistance of a clever Portuguese chum and a spunky English governess. Another good one. (Kirkus Reviews)

Daily Telegraph
Cornwell describes military action brilliantly.The Sharpe series is...wonderfully urgent, alive, keeping you in suspense...SHARPE'S ESCAPE is among the best"

Customer Reviews

Sharpe's still Triumphant
Authors sometimes find that they have painted themselves into a corner by writing about a specific character over a given period. Throughout the 1980s and 90s Bernard Cornwell told the chronological tales of Sharpe as he progressed through the war and through the ranks.

However, after Waterloo and the war ending what can Cornwell do? Produce a set of prequels? Check! What about integrating new stories into the Napoleonic Wars during time periods previously ignored? Bingo!

Sharpe's Escape takes us back to 1810 and tells of Sharpe's run in with a dodgy Portuguese Major and his criminal brother. As a fan of the series the characters feel like family and the story rattles along at a good pace.

I really enjoyed this title, as a fan. However, I can see it being difficult for first timers as it’s not the strongest of Sharpe novels and no new characterization is offered. I also find it slightly confusing trying to remember what year and rank Sharpe is meant to be fighting in as each new book comes out.

For fans this is a must but for first time Sharpe readers I suggest reading them in Chronological order where possible.

Good, sturdy book
I am a big fan of Bernard Cornwell and all of his books; however it is his Sharpe series that i like the best, mainly because of the sharp action and deep historical detail. This is another good book, just like the last one, Sharpe's Havoc. There are enough battles and sword and bare-kuckles fights to satisfy anyone, and the description of the lines of Torres-Verdas are particularly fascinating to read, as there has obviously been a lot of reasearch done.

However, like the last novel, I get the feeling that something is not quite there that was in his earlier novels, as the action seems a little bland and is not quite as detailed, it seems. It may just be me, but unlike his earlier works, my favourite of which is Waterloo, I have not found myself rereading this book as I have done the others.

All in all, an exciting plot with a slightly obvious ending which has been done before -Sharpe's Honour and Battle springs to mind- and a little less exciting than the others, but still more than worthy of attention. Bring back Hakeswill!

A more extended battle
I used to think that Sharpe had run its course and that after the Trafalgar novel came out, he should have hung up his boots. I was wrong.

Escape, like Havoc gets to the action, it seems, much quicker than some of the other novels and maintains it throughout the course of the story. No one can describe a battle like Bernard Cornwell and he maintains his high standard throughout this book.

A good storyline, if a little predictable with the "big bad buy" and the woman along in the sub plot, but none the less a great read.

Overall, another great outing for Sharpe.