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Sharpe's Trafalgar (Paperback)

by Bernard Cornwell (Author) "A HUNDRED AND FIFTEEN RUPEES, Ensign Richard Sharpe said, counting the money onto the table ..." (more)

4.1 out of 5 stars See all reviews (33 customer reviews)

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Product Details

Paperback: 424 pages
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0754023516
ISBN-13: 978-0754023517
Shipping Weight: 504 g

Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars See all reviews (33 customer reviews)

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Product Description

From Amazon.co.uk

Ensign Richard Sharpe is back in Sharpe's Trafalgar, the 17th in Bernard Cornwell's remarkable series of Sharpe novels. Sharpe is at the thick of things again, but this time not on the battlefield, but on the high seas.

The year is 1805 and Sharpe is stuck in Bombay, waiting passage back to England on the Calliope. He soon discovers that his fellow passengers include the aged patrician Lord William Hale and his "breathtakingly, achingly, untouchably beautiful" young wife, Lady Grace. The scene is set for a romantic but eventful passage, which becomes even more entangled as the Calliope is surprised by the rogue French warship the Revenant. The ensuing maritime adventures sail Sharpe right into one of the most momentous naval battles of all time, off Cape Trafalgar, on the 21st of October 1805, as the massed fleets of Spain and France face the might of Admiral Horatio Nelson's English navy.

Sharpe's Trafalgar is one of Cornwell's most ambitious Sharpe novels to date. Filled with the Cornwell trademarks of heroism, graphic violence, romance and vivid evocation of the period, its portrayal of Sharpe at sea is convincingly done and Sharpe's encounter with Nelson himself, alongside his previous encounters with historical figures such as Wellington, is particularly effective--the frail Admiral characterised as asking "nothing from life except to be seated with his good friends Chase, Blackwood and Richard Sharpe". Sharpe's Trafalgar finds Bernard Cornwell on top form; Sharpe fans will not be disappointed. --Jerry Brotton --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Publishers Weekly

Nobody describes bloody battle scenes better than Cornwell, and even he outdoes himself with this riveting novel about the epic naval battle off Spain's Cape Trafalgar in 1805. This is the 17th volume in his popular Napoleonic War series about Richard Sharpe, a brutish yet admirable soldier in the British army. Here Cornwell jumps back chronologically in Sharpe's glorious career to 1805, when Sharpe is promoted from the ranks for saving Lord Arthur Wellesley's life in India. Loaded down with looted jewels, the bastard son of a London whore heads back to England to a posting with the famous 95th Rifle Regiment. His battlefield promotion to junior officer rank makes common soldiers wary, and gentlemen officers scornful, and Sharpe decidedly uncomfortable in a role he does not yet know how to play. But he certainly knows how to fight. As usual, there is not only plenty of action but romance and intrigue as well. Sailing aboard a large East India Company merchant ship, Sharpe encounters a wealthy married woman whose charms he cannot resist, a pompous English lord he cannot stand and a host of treacherous fellow passengers. Unusual circumstances, betrayal and some bad luck next find him aboard a British ship-of-the-line in pursuit of a French warship in the Atlantic. Beyond the murky horizon lies an unexpected rendezvous at Trafalgar, where Lord Nelson and the British fleet wait to meet the combined French and Spanish fleets. The naval battle occupies the last hundred pages and is stunning for its ferocity, detail, historical accuracy and suspense. Cornwell's fans will love Sharpe at sea in this latest installment in a first-rate series. (May)Forecast: Cornwell's books are major bestsellers in the U.K. Sharpe's Trafalgar hit the top of the charts and HarperCollins is pushing for similar success in the U.S. An eight-city author tour, national advertising and a 25-city national radio campaign will help, but word of mouth generated by satisfied readers should be even more effective.

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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A HUNDRED AND FIFTEEN RUPEES, Ensign Richard Sharpe said, counting the money onto the table. Read the first page

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Customer Reviews

33 Reviews

5 star:		(14)
4 star:		(10)
3 star:		(7)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

Average Customer Review

4.1 out of 5 stars (33 customer reviews)

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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Sharpe Learns to Look Out for Himself at Sea, Dec 11 2008

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

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

In chronological order, Sharpe's Trafalgar is the fourth book in the series. You could also think of it as an out-of-sequence book because it has little to do with the stories about Richard Sharpe as a soldier. In fact, unless you want to read a little about what it was like to be at the Battle of Trafalgar, you could skip this book and not miss anything important in the way of character development. Unlike the India books where Sharpe was continually fighting off deadly threats to his life, Sharpe is more concerned here with sneaking around with a married woman, a remote cousin of Sir Arthur Wellesley, Lady Grace Hale.

The Napoleonic Wars were fought in Europe. Naturally, Sharpe has to leave India if he is to appear to save the day in all of those amazing battles on the continent. Naturally, he's going to pass by Trafalgar. Why not write a book about the battle and have Sharpe stumble into it? That's clear the thought process behind this book.

As a result, you end up with a lot of plot "development" that is sort of filler before the main battle. Having never studied the sea battle, I found that the explanations were interesting and the story helped make the technology and strategy easier to understand. Had this been a novella that focused on the last third of this book, I probably would have graded the book as a five-star effort.

The ins and outs of avoiding being swindled by ship chandlers, East India ship captains, and common seamen didn't seem all that interesting to me. The romantic side of the book wasn't too credible to me and didn't add much to my enjoyment of the story. If you think Bernard Cornwell's novels about Sharpe lack enough of a love interest, then you'll probably like this book a lot better than I did.

The writing is quite good in comparing naval battles with the kind of fortress breaching that Sharpe engaged in during the three books in India. I don't recall reading another novel from this era that made those comparisons quite so explicit and interesting.

By contrast, some of the dialogue is particularly bad. In fact, Cornwell makes fun of his own dialogue by putting words into the mouths of characters who don't agree that every ship's captain is a "fine fellow."

The unforgettable part of the book is the characterization of Lord Nelson who led his sailors to such a remarkable victory that day.

Fire!

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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Sharpe the Marine., Aug 30 2003

By	David Hassall (Wichita, KS) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

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

Bernard Cornwell is a historian first and storywriter second, at both he is superb. Trafalgar is possibly the most famous naval battle in British history and it just so happens to fit in with the Sharpe timeline. Naturally as a historian Cornwell would want to put Sharpe in this position and am glad he did. I found this book to amazingly interesting. The account of the naval battle is both detailed and gripping. He recounts the events with such accuracy its amazing how he made it seem so interesting and not just a report from a history book.

The book has all the ingredients that make the Sharpe series so great, you just have to read it to love it.

I give this book 4 stars, and it's well deserved.

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4.0 out of 5 stars A cheeky installment from Mr Cornwell, Jul 9 2004

By	Sailoil (Dublin Ireland) - See all my reviews

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

Richard Sharpe, the heroic rifleman, was created by Bernard Cornwell as a way of following the career of the Duke of Wellington in the Peninsular war.

When that proved a roaring success Cornwell embarked on the production of some Prequels to show how Sharpe had risen from the ranks in India, and to show the early career of Wellesley at Seringapatam and Assaye.

But Sharpe had to be moved from India to Spain, and Cornwell cheekily hijacked this opportunity to introduce his diamond in the rough to the other great British war hero of the Napoleonic era, Admiral Nelson. In the process Cornwell slips another ship of the line into the battle of Trafalgar on either side.

Sharpes Trafalgar is a great swashbuckling novel in the best tradition of Hornblower. It moves from Conmen in India to Pirates on the high seas. There follows a nailbiting sea chase between two 74 gunners, culminating in the Battle of Trafalgar.

Along the way is a love story, deception, blackmail and revenge, all the usual depth and richness of Cornwells back plots. And on the trip we learn a lot about the day to day routines of the great days of sail.

Wonderful and colourful stuff. It's not literature, but it is great!

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Most recent customer reviews

4.0 out of 5 stars Smooth Sailing for Sharpe
After my own 2-year hiatus from Sharpe, this was a good re-introduction. The plot moves nicely - a bit padded here and there. Read more

Published on Oct 25 2003

5.0 out of 5 stars Sharpe's Trafalgar
Bernard Cornwell and his Richard Sharpe series are some of the most exciting historical fiction around. Read more

Published on Oct 24 2003

3.0 out of 5 stars simplistic plot but good character interactions
This book centers around how Richard Sharpe left India and eventually found himself in the middle of the Battle of Trafalgar, the most defining naval battle during the Napoleonic... Read more

Published on Sep 1 2003 by L

3.0 out of 5 stars Cornwell' weakest link in the Sharpe series.
The year is 1805 and Ensign Richard Sharpe is preparing to return to England in order to join the newly formed 95th Rifle Regiment. Read more