Vous voulez voir cette page en fran�ais ? Cliquez ici.

3 used & new from CDN$ 20.76

See All Buying Options

Have one to sell? Sell yours here

See larger image

Share your own customer images

Publisher: learn how customers can search inside this book.

Sharpe's Fortress (Audio Cassette)

4.2 out of 5 stars See all reviews (21 customer reviews)

Available from these sellers.

1 new from CDN$ 44.04 2 used from CDN$ 20.76

Customers Who Bought This Item Also Bought

Sharpes Triumph Battle Of Assaye September 1803

by Bernard Cornwell

4.6 out of 5 stars (32) CDN$ 9.89

Sharpes Tiger Siege Of Seringapatam 1799

by Bernard Cornwell

4.7 out of 5 stars (35) CDN$ 9.89

Sharpe's Trafalgar

by Bernard Cornwell

4.1 out of 5 stars (33) CDN$ 9.89

Sharpe's Prey Expedition To Copenhagen 1807

by Bernard Cornwell

4.0 out of 5 stars (27) CDN$ 9.89

Sharpes Rifles French Invasion Galicia January 1809

by Bernard Cornwell

4.8 out of 5 stars (17) CDN$ 9.89

› Explore similar items

Product Details

Audio Cassette
Publisher: HarperCollins Canada / Harperentertai; Abridged edition edition
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0001055623
ISBN-13: 978-0001055629
Product Dimensions: 13.8 x 10.6 x 1.6 cm
Shipping Weight: 118 g

Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars See all reviews (21 customer reviews)

Amazon.ca Sales Rank: #1,500,176 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?

This is item 3 in The Sharpe's Adventures Series.

Product Description

Book Description

It is 1803 and Sir Arthur Wellesley’s army is closing on the retreating Mahrattas in western India. Marching with the British is Ensign Richard Sharpe, newly made into an officer and wishing he had stayed a sergeant. Spurned by his new regiment, he is sent to the army’s baggage train and there finds corruption, romance, treason and enemies old and new. Sergeant Hakeswill wants Sharpe dead, and Hakeswill has powerful friends while Sharpe has only an orphaned Arab boy as his ally.And waiting with the cornered Mahrattas is another enemy, the renegade Englishman, William Dodd, who does not envisage defeat, but only a glorious triumph. For the Mahrattas have taken refuge in Gawilghur, the greatest stronghold of India, perched high on its cliffs above the Deccan Plain. Who rules in Gawilghur, it is said, rules India, and Dodd knows that the fortress is impregnable. There, behind its double walls, in the towering twin forts, Sharpe must face his enemies in what will prove to be Wellesley’s last battle on Indian soil.

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 he has 19 Sharpe adventures behind him, plus a series about the American Civil War, the Starbuck novels; an enormously successful trilogy about King Arthur, The Warlord Chronicles; and the Hundred Years War set Grail Quest series.

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.

The twentieth instalment in the bestselling Sharpe series Sharpe’s Escape has just been published in hardback and went to number one on the Sunday Times bestseller list.

Bernard Cornwell is now hard at work on his next project: a brand new series, the first title of which, The Last Kingdom, will be published in October 2004.

Tag this product

(What's this?)

Think of a tag as a keyword or label you consider is strongly related to this product.
Tags will help all customers organize and find favorite items.

What do customers ultimately buy after viewing this item?

	76% buy the item featured on this page: Sharpe's Fortress 4.2 out of 5 stars (21)
	7% buy Sharpes Tiger Siege Of Seringapatam 1799 4.7 out of 5 stars (35) CDN$ 9.89
	6% buy Sharpes Triumph Battle Of Assaye September 1803 4.6 out of 5 stars (32) CDN$ 9.89
	6% buy Sharpes Havoc French Invasion Portugal Spring 1809 4.3 out of 5 stars (9) CDN$ 9.89

Explore similar items

Customer Reviews

21 Reviews

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

Average Customer Review

4.2 out of 5 stars (21 customer reviews)

Share your thoughts with other customers:

Create your own review

Most helpful customer reviews

4.0 out of 5 stars An Officer's Life Has Its Drawbacks for Richard Sharpe, Nov 24 2008

By	Professor Donald Mitchell "Jesus Makes Me a P... (Boston) - See all my reviews (#1 REVIEWER)

This review is from: Sharpes Fortress Siege Of Gawilghur December 1803 (Paperback)

Sharpe's Fortress is the third of the stories about Richard Sharpe in India. If you haven't read Sharpe's Tiger and Sharpe's Triumph, I strongly urge you to read those books before this one. You'll like them, and they provide very helpful background for the events in Sharpe's Fortress.

After saving Sir Arthur Wellesley's life at the Battle of Assaye (described in Sharpe's Triumph, book two in chronology in the series), Richard Sharpe was raised out of the ranks into the officer class as an ensign. In Sharpe's Fortress, it becomes obvious that he's arrived in no man's land in a Scottish unit. The Scots don't want any English in the unit; most ensigns are about 12 years old and don't do anything except watch; and men in the ranks are jealous of Sharpe's promotion.

It is kindly suggested that Sharpe either sell his commission or join a new unit, one based in England. Sharpe doesn't want to do either one, and he's even more depressed when he is asked to take a temporary assignment helping get the supplies up to the front lines.

Arriving at his new assignment, it's clear that something is badly wrong. Needed supplies are being stolen left and right. Sharpe quickly gets to the bottom of the thefts and develops new enemies. Meanwhile, his old enemy Sergeant Obadiah Hakeswill has survived Sharpe's last attempt to do away with him in Sharpe's Triumph and has new plans for Sharpe.

The main focus of the story is on the continuing war between the British and their allies and the Mahrattas in India. Turncoat William Dodd has gained every higher rank in the Mahratta forces and is looking forward to a huge victory when the British come to attack the seemingly impregnable fortress of Gawilghur. Much of the story is taken up with various defenders imagining how they will destroy the British in the different traps that await them in the high fortress.

Those extremely detailed descriptions of the fortress become more than a little tiresome. You do have a reward, however, because you'll better understand the story that Cornwell tells about how the battle is won. Actually, the fictional report isn't terribly far off from the actual experience as the historical note indicates. It is only the exaggerated role for Sharpe that misleads . . . while providing a good way to help you understand the battle.

The battle scenes are terrific in this book. It's only the tedium of the redundant musings that keep this book for being a five-star effort.

As usual, Sharpe finds that while he has temporary conquests with the ladies, he isn't going to be the one who takes them home permanently.

Enjoy!

Was this review helpful to you? Yes No (Report this)

3.0 out of 5 stars Weakest of the Sharpe in India books, Jan 7 2004

By A Customer

This review is from: Sharpe's Fortress (Paperback)

Not a terrible book, but definitely the weakest of the Sharpe novels set in India (the "Rifles" prequels). The battle scenes are quite good, but the perfunctory romance story feels so tacked-on that that one suspects Cornwell only included the female character because his formula required it. And the handling of Obadiah Hakeswill at the end is just annoying; altogether too much like a James Bond villain's attempt to rid himself of Bond. To reiterate, not an awful novel, but it compares pretty poorly to the preceding "Sharpe's Triumph" or to the subsequent "Sharpe's Trafalgar."

Was this review helpful to you? Yes No (Report this)

5.0 out of 5 stars Sharpe storms the fortress on the hill, Sep 19 2003

By	Mykal Banta (Boynton Beach, FL USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Sharpe's Fortress (Paperback)

This is the summation of the Cornwell's "India Trilogy" which follows British Soldier Richard Sharpe during the Mahratta War of 1803. In this novel, the English army must somehow take Gawalghur, a seemingly impenetrable mountaintop fortress and last bastion of the Mahratta army.

This is an excellent historical/military novel in that the siege of Gawalghur is explained in dramatic terms; the tactics, the officers, the siege itself, are all here. As always, Cornwell is unmatched in his talent for bringing military affairs to life. I felt as if I was right there with the engineers and soldiers, sweating in the noonday sun. And, of course, the bloodletting is always well described in a cornwell book.

During the intense military maneuverings, Sharpe has uncovered a crooked officer, who is misappropriating military supplies and sealing them on the black market. Sharpe is nearly killed for his discover, and then seeks revenge Richard Sharpe style.

Just a great book with great characters. Cornwell is particularly adept at writing a great villain. Sharpe's nemesis, the horrid Sergeant Obadiah Hakeswill is here, of course, but my favorite bad guy was the crooked officer Captain Torrence. This guy puts the "C" in Creepy. In a beautiful bit of character development, Cornwell has Torrence nearly always receiving his staff in the nude. He explains this nudeness by claiming that with India being so hot and all, he just finds it more comfortable. Not so bad in and of itself, but what makes him creepy is the pleasure he takes at everyone's discomfort when in his presence.

Arthur Wellesley, the future Duke of Wellington, is here as well, perfectly described in his ever developing relationship to Richard Sharpe.

Buy it. You can't go wrong with a Sharpe book.

Was this review helpful to you? Yes No (Report this)

Share your thoughts with other customers: Create your own review

› See all 21 customer reviews...

Most recent customer reviews

4.0 out of 5 stars The end of Sharpe's time in India?
In December 1803 the British Army had pushed back the Mahratta's to their last stronghold. A seemingly impenetrable fortress atop a mountain in a place named Gawilghur. Read more

Published on Aug 31 2003 by David Hassall

5.0 out of 5 stars Another excellent addition to the series
As always, richard is center stage, and we watch in fascination as he grows and develops. He is a bit of an awkward youth in the first books, and quite rough around the edges,... Read more

Published on Dec 13 2002

1.0 out of 5 stars A low point in the Sharpe series
After reading this, my first thought was "you're grounded Orville, that won't fly." The others in the series I've read were all good or better, this one is weak and... Read more

Published on Aug 14 2002 by Scott Blake