Sharpe's Trafalgar
Published: 3 April 2000
ISBN 0-00-225874-9 (hardcover edition)
ISBN 0-00-651309-3 (paperback edition)
- 5 Stars a Must Read
Sharpe's Trafalgar is another of my favorite Sharpe Books, It shatters the usual Sharpe format and I felt I was reading something truly original and not a retelling of the same story.
It is also a book which had the possibility of becoming stuck and a little claustrophobic, being mainly set onboard ship. However Bernard Cornwell managers to keep the attention all the way through , and the Battle at Trafalgar arrived disappointing me that the book was coming to its climax.
We see plenty of new characters introduced, and a pleasant reprise from at least one old and very likeable rogue. Hopefully some will make a return later on.
What is also missing is the originally interesting but often repeated descriptions of square line and column, the difference between muskets and rifles, and the usual napoleonic infantry fighting information. That appears in almost every Sharpe book. Refreshingly we are not treated to much of the seafaring equivalent, but instead we get interesting character work, development, interplay and intrigue all excellently done.
This is to my my mind one the most interesting and original of the Sharpe books, format is set aside for creativity and Bernard has defiantly excelled in the freedom he has given himself. I have to say a must read book.
Synopsis
Ensign Richard Sharpe is headed from India to England to join a newly formed rifle regiment in 1805. Also on his ship the Calliope is the lovely but married Lady Grace Hale, whose presence promises to provide intrigue and distraction to an otherwise uneventful voyage home.
Surprisingly uneventful the voyage is not, the Calliope is captured by a formidable French warship, The Revenant. The French warship is headed to its own fleet, carrying a stolen treaty that, if delivered, could provoke India into a new war against the British. Eventually Sharpe and his new found friend Captain Chase set off in pursuit of the revenant.
The final encounter of Admiral Ho ratio Nelson's well-led fleet results in a breathtaking retelling of one of the most ferocious and one-sided sea battles in European history, in which Nelson, and Sharpe, vanquish the combined naval might of France and Spain at Trafalgar.
Sharpe's Trafalgar - Main Characters
Ensign Richard Sharpe
Lady Grace Hale
Lord William Hale
Colonel Anthony Pohlmann
Admiral Horatio Nelson
Captain Joel Chase
Clouter
Midshipman Harry Collier
Captain Peculiar Cromwell
Sergeant Armstrong
Sharpe Books
Wise Words
"On no Hamlett was no Irishman, he was a fool"
- Captain Hogan
