Sharpes Company: Amazon.ca: Bernard Cornwell: Books

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Life for the common soldier in the British army at the Siege of Badajoz, Spain, in 1803, was harsh; battles were won with the bayonet and clubbed rifle. Besides meager wages, his prospects included mutilation, painful death and an unmarked grave in hostile lands. In this thoroughly British production Gaminara reads with a clear, English accent. Although he reads at a crisp pace, his subtle inflection and keenness in telling the story keep the listener glued to every word. Each character has an easily distinguishable voice, which rings true. With repeated instances of rape, mayhem and pillage, this story is a none-too-subtle reminder that the Anglo-Saxon heritage is not all royal weddings and Masterpiece Theater. m.f.p. (c)AudioFile, Portland, Maine --This text refers to the Audio Cassette edition.

Stephen King

Consistently exciting... these are wonderful novels. --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

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4.5 out of 5 stars (4 customer reviews)

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5.0 out of 5 stars Sharpe's Nemesis, Sergeant Hakeswill, Returns as Wellington Batters in the Front Doors to Spain, April 22 2009

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

This review is from: Sharpes Company Siege Of Badajoz January-april 1812 (Paperback)

Sharpe! Sharpe! Sharpe!

I encourage you to read these books in order of the chronology of the events, rather than the order in which they are written. If you've been doing that, you've probably wondered whatever happened to Sergeant Obadiah ("I can't be killed") Hakeswill who we last read about in India. In Sharpe's Company, this spawn of the underworld returns to cause lots of mischief.

Viscount Wellington is still leading the allied forces in the Peninsula, having secured Portugal. In Sharpe's Company, two fortresses bar the way into Napoleon's Spain, Ciudad Rodrigo and Badajoz. Naturally, Sharpe plays a key role in both battles. In this book, you get two sieges for the price of one.

The love story is much stronger here than usual in the series as the female partisan leader from Sharpe's Gold, Teresa, makes an important return appearance. In the process, Sharpe learns he has become a father . . . and his daughter is being cared for in Badajoz.

Sharpe's career also takes a turn for the worse. The temporary captaincy comes to an end, and he's reduced in rank to lieutenant reporting to a new captain who isn't as decisive as he might be. Hakeswill is soon undermining everyone to put himself to an advantage, and Sharpe's morale plummets while his hatred of Hakeswill grows.

Sharpe also comes to resent that he cannot become a permanent captain and toys with the idea of leading a Forlorn Hope into the breach to gain such a promotion.

The story's ending may turn your stomach more than a little as Mr. Cornwell treats us to a pretty graphic description of the sack of Badajoz by the British and Portuguese. It may be more historical realism than you really want to know about. Before that, the blood and guts get to be pretty strong as suicidal charge after suicidal charge is led into Badajoz's breaches.

It's an exciting book that you won't soon forget. I happen to like fiendish villains, and Hakeswill is a fine example to my taste. I love to wonder what horrible trick he will pull next.

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5.0 out of 5 stars Forever tormented Sharpe!, Dec 19 2003

By	Corpsie (Redlands, CA United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: 04 Sharpes Company (Paperback)

I actually started reading the Sharpe series starting from the India campaign (Cornwell's prequal to the regular Sharpe story) and ol' Obadiah was prevalent throughout. So I have to admit I was a little put off by, what I perceived to be, slight story changes from the prequals that I had read first.

Despite the changes (yes, I know Cornwell wrote the Peninsular War series first!), this was an extremely enjoyable book and I found myself actually yelling at the pages for Sharpe to succeed. I knew he would, but Cornwell has an excellent way of telling a story that pulls the reader into the novel and the next thing you know you're at the end.

My thanks to emilyh for putting together an outstanding chronological history of the Sharpe books. Otherwise I would have been completely lost and not have enjoyed this series as much as I have!

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4.0 out of 5 stars Good, but not the best, Feb 27 2003

By	... (elsewhere) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Sharpe's Company (Richard Sharpe's Adventure Series #13) (Paperback)

Overall, an excellent novel. I've read many of Sharpe's adventures, and have enjoyed them all. This particular story deals with the siege of Badajoz. It has everything we've come to expect from a Richard Sharpe novel: action, mind-boggling battle scenes, and the occasional romance. My only complaint sounds kinda dumb, even to myself-- the villian, Obadiah Hakeswill. Every so often an author comes up with a villian that he can't bring himself to kill. Even, as in this case, when it goes against all common sense. The character, Sharpe, simply would not allow an enemy to escape as many times as Hakeswill does. I know this is nit-picking, but having some experience in the military, I can safely say that an infantryman does NOT leave an enemy behind him. Not alive, anyway. Okay, enough whining from me. Again, this is an excellent read. I'd recommend it to anyone interested in historical fiction, action, or military history.

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4.0 out of 5 stars Siege + Hakeswill = Another Solid Entry
This 1813-set entry in the Napoleonic War series finds Sharpe once again battling two of his most formidable foes: bureaucracy and the thoroughly evil Sgt. Read more

Published on Jun 28 2001 by A. Ross

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	60% buy the item featured on this page: Sharpes Company 4.5 out of 5 stars (4)
	14% buy Sharpes Triumph Battle Of Assaye September 1803 4.6 out of 5 stars (32) CDN$ 9.89
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