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Sharpe's Havoc (Paperback)

by Bernard Cornwell (Author) "And the French were coming ..." (more)

4.3 out of 5 stars See all reviews (9 customer reviews)

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Product Details

Paperback: 416 pages
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0754092836
ISBN-13: 978-0754092834
Shipping Weight: 504 g

Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars See all reviews (9 customer reviews)

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Product Description

From Amazon.co.uk

One thing is as sure as death and taxes: that each successive Bernard Cornwell novel will be as exhilarating as its predecessor. Sharpe's Havoc continues the trend, demonstrating once again why the Richard Sharpe books by Cornwell are among the most cherished examples of historical derring-do around. While the novels are all assiduously detailed, with a precise sense of period, Cornwell knows how essential it is that his hero, the danger-prone Richard Sharpe, is as vividly characterised as ever. True to form, in Sharpe's Havoc we never lose sight of the character of the protagonist and the many members of the idiosyncratic supporting cast.

This time, we are taken to the spring of 1809 when a few British soldiers are stationed in Lisbon as Marshal Soult undertakes his assault on the garrison of Northern Portugal. It's not for Sharpe and his trusty crew of riflemen to dwell on the finer points of politics when they are sent into the city of Oporto to save the lives of two British women who have elected to stay. But when one of the women, Kate Savage, goes missing, Sharpe (along with Sergeant Patrick Harper and several battle-hardened colleagues) finds himself besieged in the city when the bridge over the river falls to the enemy. The English are forced on in a desperate journey back to the safety of the British encampment, but things become very murky when an enigmatic English officer informs them that they will be staying in the hellhole that is Northern Portugal.

Cornwell admirers will know exactly what to expect, and all the heady pleasures that distinguished such earlier books as Sharpe's Battle and Sharpe's Company are fully in place here, with the added impetus that comes from a notably picaresque narrative. All the central characters are drawn with the customary forcefulness, and instead of the expected tension and release that is the hallmark of most Cornwell novels, there's a steadily increasing excitement engendered here that leads to an all-stops-out finale. --Barry Forshaw --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

From Publishers Weekly

Sharpe fans who may have worried that Cornwell's popular series was drawing to a close can heave a sigh of relief-the 19th entry (after 2002's Sharpe's Prey) brings the up-from-the-ranks rifleman back to the Peninsular War where the series began, among such familiar comrades-in-arms as Sergeant Harper and the "old poacher" Dan Hagman. In the treacherous villain role without which no Sharpe adventure would be complete, the Shakespeare-quoting Colonel Christopher plays both sides of the fence in an effort to contrive a peace between the warring parties that will leave him a rich man. But Christopher hasn't reckoned with the new British commander, Sir Arthur Wellesley, the future Duke of Wellington, who arrives in time to catch Marshal Soult's invading army by surprise. Meanwhile, Sharpe and his men, cut off in a Portuguese village, hold off superior French forces with the aid of Lieutenant Vicente, a Portuguese lawyer, poet and philosopher turned soldier. Sharpe's antilawyer barbs, as well as some later banter about the troubled relations between the English and Irish and between the Spanish and Portuguese, provide comic relief, while Kate Savage, a naive 19-year-old Englishwoman seduced by Christopher, lends relatively minor romantic interest. A delicious scene at Wellesley's headquarters, in which Sharpe has to account for his seemingly inactive role, will please aficionados, as will the ringing words with which Cornwell closes his customary afterword on the historical background: "So Sharpe and Harper will march again."
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

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Customer Reviews

9 Reviews

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4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(2)
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4.3 out of 5 stars (9 customer reviews)

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4.0 out of 5 stars The French Cut a Bloody Swath in Portugal While Sharpe Parries a Traitor, Jan 26 2009

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

This review is from: Sharpes Havoc French Invasion Portugal Spring 1809 (Paperback)

Sharpe's Havoc is for long-time fans of Richard Sharpe who want to know about all of his fictional adventures. As usual, looking after the interests of the local British causes Sharpe lots of problems.

If you are reading these books in the order of the chronology of the events rather than the order of their publication, this book follows Sharpe's Rifles where Sharpe rises to command a small band of the 95th Rifles after his superiors are killed in the disastrous retreat from Spain. Sharpe has attached himself to a surveying team that is preparing maps for the British.

As the French prepare to capture Oporto under Marshal Soult, Sharpe is ordered to help locate a missing woman who may have gone to her family's country home. No sooner does he receive this order than it is countermanded by the shadowy Colonel Christopher who orders a retreat in the opposite directions. After receiving his orders in writing, Sharpe begins to retreat . . . only to find it's too late. There is no safe way out of the city. So he takes his men and they take their chances.

The scenes involving Portuguese people leaving Oporto are pretty gruesome. You won't soon forget them.

Eventually, Sharpe and his men (alone with some Portuguese allies) find themselves where the missing woman may be found. Once there, Colonel Christopher begins playing dangerous games at the expense of the British and Sharpe. He also misleads the woman into believing she is married (even though Christopher is already married). The consequences are fatal for many of those who rely on Christopher.

At the book's end, Sharpe and his men play a key role in the recapture of Oporto by Sir Arthur Wellesley (Sharpe's not-so-friendly friend in high places).

There are three battle scenes that you'll enjoy in the book. The various machinations of Christopher and Sharpe being caught in stasis don't provide for much interesting reading. As a result, the middle of the book (between the first and second battle scenes) may not appeal to you.

If you don't like to read about gruesome mistreatment of innocents, this book won't be for you. It's pretty explicit.

If you are a Francophile, don't read this book. The French army comes in for some pretty strong condemnation for its ways of "living off the land and the local people."

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5.0 out of 5 stars Sharpe in Portugal, Mar 12 2004

By	Frank J. Konopka (Shamokin, PA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Sharpe's Havoc: Richard Sharpe and the Campaign in Northern Portugal, Spring 1809 (Paperback)

It's always a cause for rejoicing to me when I have the chance to read a new novel about Richard Sharpe and his exploits in the Napoleonic era. These books are excellent reading, and you also receive a "ground-pounder's" view of the wars of that time. This isn't the elite "from the command post" view, but from the guys who actually did the fighting, up close and really dirty. The writing is first-rate, and the characters quite well drawn. The plots keep the reader moving swiftly, and the pages are turned with great anticipation. Just when it appears that the author may have exhausted the scenarios of the war years in his books, he gives all of his faithful readers hope for the future when he says at the end: "Sharpe and Harper will march again". That is fantastic news!

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3.0 out of 5 stars Richard...We know ye too well..., May 11 2003

By	"okie580" (bergen county, nj) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Sharpe's Havoc (Hardcover)

The Sharpe series is 19 books long now, I think. Cornwell wrote several books in the original series and now goes back on occasion and adds episodes. It's a difficult task to write new chapters into a book already written. The chronology may suffer or the hero's past might not be acknowledged in his future. These problems don't bother me so much. This book, however, was a disappointment and I'm not sure why. Everything one would expect in a book by Cornwell is here: a remorseless villain, a damsel in distress, small skirmishes and a major battle. Maybe it's the fact we've travelled these roads so many times already and there's nothing new down there anyway. There can be no doubt of the outcome; we've already seen the far future of Sharpe.
Patrick O'Brien suffered this same sort of malaise in his Aubrey/Maturin series too. Maybe authors get bored with their own creations and cannot think of ways to inject new excitement and experiences in these set pieces. Perhaps Richard Sharpe needs a vacation in Bermuda or someplace. I can see the pirates and the women of easy virtue now...

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Most recent customer reviews

4.0 out of 5 stars Sharpe fans will be delighted with this very good read
The surprising thing about SHARPE'S HAVOC has nothing to do with its content. The content of the Richard Sharpe books --- this is the nineteenth --- is generally the same. Read more

Published on May 3 2003 by Bookreporter.com

3.0 out of 5 stars NOT SO SHARP
Sharpe's Havoc is the eighteenth volume of Richard Sharpe's saga, but its time frame is early in Britain's Peninsular War against Napoleon, filling the gap between Sharpe's Rifles... Read more

Published on April 30 2003 by charles falk

5.0 out of 5 stars Back to where it belongs...
First things first: As Action&Adventure Novels Sharpe's are the best, get it and enjoy, nobody does it better. Read more

Published on April 26 2003 by Alejo

5.0 out of 5 stars Sharpe as ever!
For long-time fans like me who found "Sharpe's Prey" a bit below par, I'm pleased to say that this one returns to first principles, ... Read more

Published on April 17 2003 by Suetonius