Sharpe's Trafalgar: The Battle of Trafalgar, 21 October 1805: Book 4 (The Sharpe Series)

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After killing a gang leader during a fight over Maggie, he flees from London to Yorkshire at the age of fifteen. He works in a tavern in Sheffield. Within six months, Sharpe kills a second man, the landlord of the tavern where he is working, in a fight over a local girl. A dazzling nautical adventure that finds Bernard Cornwell's beloved ensign Richard Sharpe in the middle of one of history's most spectacular naval engagements: the battle at Cape Trafalgar off the coast of Spain. Saving the Duke of Wellington from two assassination attempts in Paris (Cornwell explains that the first attempt happened, though the shooter simply missed, while the second is fictional and based on a likely deliberate fire that broke out in a house Wellington had been in days earlier).

XIX век си е било истинско изпитание, например от Индия до Европа за това са били нужни няколко месеца - без да се къпеш, с оскъдна и гадна храна, без почти никакво лично пространство и не само бедните, а и богатите са пътували в подобна обстановка. Storming the walls of the inner fortress at Gawilghur and opening the gates to the besieging forces (in reality, this was achieved by Captain Campbell leading the light company of the 94th Scotch Brigade; in the novel, Campbell and his troops are the first to join Sharpe once they realise what he's planning); On transfer to the 95th Rifles, Sharpe becomes a second lieutenant, equivalent in rank to an ensign, as the Rifles do not have ensigns. Peculiar Cromwell, captain of the Calliope, spots the jewels (looted from an Indian ruler) Sharpe has sewn into his clothing and insists that Sharpe leave them with him for safekeeping, to avoid tempting his crew. Following Napoleon's defeat, Sharpe ends up in Paris with the occupying allied armies. There he uncovers and defeats a secret Bonapartist group ( Sharpe's Assassin). Afterwards, he retires from the army.

Grace sets up home with Sharpe at Shorncliffe, but dies giving birth to their child, who survives her by only a few hours. Sharpe's fortune is seized by the lawyers, who believe it to be part of Grace's estate.

And Sharpe has a lot to learn as well, here, for he has in the person of his friend Captain Chase (whom he rescued from a nasty crew on land in the novel's prologue) an example of leadership like he's not seen before. His Pucelle**, on which Sharpe finds himself after he's sort-of-rescued from a captured Indiaman, is a great big ship of the line, a floating artillery battery, and, that rarity of rarities, a happy ship. How does he do that?Sharpe serves four uneventful years as a sergeant. In 1803, he is the sole survivor of a massacre of the garrison of a small fort carried out by a turncoat Company officer, William Dodd ( Sharpe's Triumph). Because he can identify Dodd, Sharpe is taken along by McCandless on a mission to capture and punish Dodd, to discourage others from deserting. Their search takes them first to battles at Ahmednuggur and then Assaye. This was a genius idea by Cornwell to write about one of the biggest battles of the era and to have Sharpe get in the middle of it in an organic way. The giant set piece at the end of this one did not disappoint, and Cornwell brought his trademark visceral battle writing full of every sensory detail you could imagine, savage fighting, death everywhere, and acts of grand bravery. Richard Share was a feral London boy before he joined the British army. In the time just before this book, he was sent to India to battle both indigenous peoples and other countries with imperial ambitions. He saves the life of an officer (who later will become Lord Wellington, hero of Waterloo) and is promoted from the ranks to ensign. This is an excellent effort on Cornwell’s part and an excellent description of the Battle of Trafalgar that prevented Napoleon from wresting sea superiority from the Brits and forestalled the Emperor’s plans to invade England. But, this historical novel is beyond that a great entertainment of manners, romance, perfidy, and courage.

During the early years of the Peninsula Campaign, Sharpe's affections are torn between a Portuguese courtesan, Josefina LaCosta, and the Spanish partisan leader Teresa Moreno ( Sharpe's Eagle, Sharpe's Gold). Teresa bears Sharpe a daughter, Antonia ( Sharpe's Company), in 1811, and marries Sharpe in 1812, but is murdered a year later by Sharpe's longtime enemy, deserter Obadiah Hakeswill ( Sharpe's Enemy). Sharpe leaves his daughter to be raised by Teresa's family, and, as far as is known, never sees her again. Over the same period, Sharpe also has affairs with an English governess, Sarah Fry ( Sharpe's Escape); Caterina Veronica Blazquez, a prostitute who has beguiled Henry Wellesley, Sir Arthur's brother ( Sharpe's Fury); and the French spy Hélène Leroux ( Sharpe's Sword, Sharpe's Honour). Cornwell published the non-fiction book Waterloo: The History of Four Days, Three Armies and Three Battles in September 2014, timely for the 200th anniversary of the Battle of Waterloo. [2] Killing Tipu Sultan and looting his corpse (the identity of the man who killed the sultan is unknown; like Sharpe, the soldier probably wished to remain anonymous because of the riches he acquired); The scenes with Sharpe and Chase are also a nice antidote to the soap opera adultery plot that comprises more than half this book.*** Ugh.Saving Arthur Wellesley's life at the Battle of Assaye (Wellesley was unhorsed and forced to defend himself from Maratha artillerymen for a few crucial moments; Cornwell notes that if any soldier or officer had saved his life during this fight, he would almost certainly have rewarded him with a promotion); Taking command of a regiment in driving off the advance of the French Imperial Guard at the Battle of Waterloo (the regiments who actually held off the Imperial Guard are in the novel as well); Just when it seems that the Revenant will get away, the combined French and Spanish fleets sortie, with Admiral Horatio Nelson's fleet in pursuit. The Revenant joins the enemy fleet, while the Pucelle comes under Nelson's command. When Nelson summons Chase to a meeting, Chase brings Sharpe along and introduces him to his friend the admiral. Serves as lieutenant colonel in the 5th Belgian Light Dragoons (Dutch Army) led by the Prince of Orange during the 100 days. He later acts as colonel of his old regiment during the Battle of Waterloo. At the climax of the battle, he is given official command after Wellington says, "That is your Battalion now! So take it forward!" At the end of the war Wellington confirms his command, allowing Sharpe to retire from the army on a lieutenant-colonel's pension. What is to follow is the momentous clash between the armadas of Britain against the French and Spanish on an October day, and what in the end will happen off Cape of Trafalgar is a victorious British fleet with Richard Sharpe right in the midst of it all.

After publishing eight books in his ongoing Sharpe series, Cornwell was approached by a production company interested in adapting them for television. The producers asked him to write a prequel to give them a starting point to the series. They also requested that the story feature a large role for Spanish characters to secure co-funding from Spain. The result was Sharpe’s Rifles, published in 1987, and a series of Sharpe television films staring Sean Bean.In his fourth Sharpe novel, Sharpe's Trafalgar, Bernard Cornwell has his hero leave India to return home to England. On the way on board the Calliope, our stalwart soldier unexpectedly finds himself caught up in a historic sea battle. Accustomed to fighting on land as part of an army, Ensign Richard Sharpe is initially disconcerted when he joins the crew of the fictional British ship Pucelle in the October 21, 1805 Battle of Trafalgar, revered Admiral Horatio Nelson's final engagement. But Sharpe is a fast learner and soon finds his sea legs as he joins the marine crew under Lieutenant Llewelyn.