Series, Battle, Richard, October, Adventure, Sharpe's, 1805, Sharpe, Trafalgar
Sharpe's Trafalgar: Richard Sharpe & the Battle of Trafalgar, October 21, 1805 (Richard Sharpe's Adventure Series #4)

• ISBN13: 9780061098628
• Condition: New
• Notes: BRAND NEW FROM PUBLISHER! BUY WITH CONFIDENCE, Over one million books sold! 98% Positive feedback. Compare our books, prices and service to the competition. 100% Satisfaction Guaranteed

The year is 1805, and the Calliope, with Richard Sharpe aboard, is captured by a formidable French warship, the Revenant, which has been terrorizing British nautical traffic in the Indian Ocean. The French warship races toward the safety of its own fleet, carrying a stolen treaty that could provoke India into a new war against the British -- and render for naught all that Sharpe has bravely fought for till now.

But help comes from an unexpected quarter. An old friend, a captain in the Royal Navy, is on the trail of the Revenant, and Sharpe comes aboard a 74-gun man-of-war called Pucelle in hot pursuit. What results is a breathtaking retelling of one of the most ferocious and one-sided sea battles in European history, in which Nelson -- and Sharpe -- vanquish the combined naval might of France and Spain at Trafalgar.

For military-history buffs, Bernard Cornwell's Sharpe novels are the literary equivalent of potato chips: you can't read just one. And in this case, why would you want to? Blending meticulous research and old-fashioned entertainment, the series follows the roguish adventurer Richard Sharpe as he swashbuckles his way through the Napoleonic Wars. In Sharpe's Trafalgar, the author ventures into Patrick O'Brian's maritime territory. Anchors aweigh, lads, and bring on the detailed descriptions of the ship's guns and their firing mechanisms!

In the beginning of the book, our hero sets sail for England after five months of service in India. The plot revolves around a disguised diplomat, a marauding French warship, and an improbable love affair with a comely English aristocrat. But make no mistake, the real draw here is combat. The battle scenes crackle with energy, and we can practically feel the chop of the waves and smell the reek of gunpowder. (We can also smell 600 unwashed men in close quarters with rats, sewage, and bilge rot, but that's another matter entirely.) The last hundred pages fly by at a furious clip, cannons pounding and cutlasses hacking, as Cornwell re-creates the naval battle of Trafalgar.

These days, of course, we know that war is bloody and brutal, not honorable or fair. We like even our most appealing warriors to have some passing acquaintance with their dark side, and Sharpe does take a decidedly antiheroic stance on the experience of hand-to-hand combat:

He was ashamed when he remembered the joy of it, but there was a joy there. It was the happiness of being released to the slaughter, of having every bond of civilization removed. It was also what Richard Sharpe was good at. It was why he wore an officer's sash instead of a private's belt, because in almost every battle the moment came when the disciplined ranks dissolved and a man simply had to claw and scratch and kill like a beast.

Beast or no beast, Sharpe is far more interesting and complex than the musket-wielding action figure he might first appear. And it's nearly impossible not to take some pleasure at his bloody exploits. Sharpe's Trafalgar is a superb example of the ripping good yarn--it confirms our secret conviction that war may be hell, but it's actually pretty exciting too. --Mary Park









List Price: $ 13.99



Price: $ 7.90

Other posts like this, by keyword:

Series:

Come Look With Me: Exploring Landscape Art With Children (Come Look With Me Series) ...
When is the new series of american chopper repeated on discovery? ...
Fuzzy and Neural Approaches in Engineering (Adaptive and Learning Systems for Signal Processing, Communications and Control Series) ...
Modularity: Understanding the Development and Evolution of Natural Complex Systems (Vienna Series in Theoretical Biology) ...
Village Diary (The Fairacre Series #2) Reviews ...
Missing in Death (In Death Series) Reviews ...
Water Management in Islam (Water Resources Management and Policy Series) Reviews ...
Doing Family Therapy, Second Edition: Craft and Creativity in Clinical Practice (The Guilford Family Therapy Series) ...
Biology and Creation: An Introduction Regarding Life and Its Origins (Creation Research Society Reader Series, No. 4) ...
SF Giants World Series Parade ...
Battle:

Roman Battle Tactics 390-110 BC (Elite) ...
Commando: Battle of Britain – Scramble!: The Ten Best Commando Battle of Britain Comic Books Ever! (Commando 70) ...
Inventing the Movies: Hollywood’s Epic Battle Between Innovation and the Status Quo, from Thomas Edison to Steve Jobs ...
Battle of the yen: A lasting impact or ‘one-day wonder’? ...
GLOBAL BATTLE – KIDS TO SAVE THE WORLD SERIES (Explore #4) ...
The Battle of the Sexes in Science Fiction (Early Classics of Science Fiction) ...
Was it worth it? Couple ordered to pay £150,000 legal fees after losing legal battle over garden wall ...
Under the Flag of the Orient: An Account of the Battle Scenes, Historical Events, Tragedies and Romances, Marvelous Legends, Customs and Cha ...
‘Battle L.A.’ fights its way to No. 1 overseas ...
Why Firefox 4 Is Winning the Browser Battle ...
Richard:

The New York World’s Fair, 1939/1940: in 155 Photographs by Richard Wurts and Others ...
Stocks on the move: Books-A-Million, CB Richard Ellis, Level 3 ...
Meier: Richard Meier & Partners, Complete Works 1963-2008 ...
Memoir of the life of Richard Henry Lee, and his correspondence with the most distinguished men in America and Europe, illustrative of their ...
Memoirs of the Life of the Rt. Hon. Richard Brinsley Sheridan – Volume 01 Reviews ...
Richard Scarry’s Animal Nursery Tales (Golden Bestsellers Series) ...
Behind Enemy Lines: The Autobiography of Britain’s Most Decorated Living War Hero. Sir Tommy MacPherson with Richard Bath ...
What are some movies that rachel mcadams plays in besides mean girls and the notebook? ...
Memoirs of … Richard Gilpin, of Scaleby Castle, in Cumberland, Together with an Account of the Author, by Himself and a Pedigree of th ...
Memoirs of the Life of the Rt. Hon. Richard Brinsley Sheridan – Volume 01 ...
October:

bangalore october rains flooding – Embassy Golf Links Business Park ...
Kansas City Fed president to retire in October ...
From the Volturno to the Winter Line, 6 October – 15 November 1943 (American Forces in Action) ...
The Occult Files of Doctor Spektor #9 October 1974 – Comic (1974) ...
“While Parents Sleep”, 20 October 1943 / Sam Hood ...
United Continental reports October traffic growth ...
Adventure:

Hot Dog and Bob Adventure 4: and the Exceptionally Eggy Attack of the Game Gators (No. 4) ...
ARROWS THROUGH TIME: A Time Travel Tale of Adventure, Courage, and Faith ...
National Geographic Road Atlas – Adventure Edition ...
Pools of Darkness (Forgotten Realms Fantasy Adventure) ...
My Wilderness: Stories of Adventure and Disaster in the White Mountains ...
Tennis Racquet Waussie’s Space Adventure (Book & Audio CD) (Waussies’ Books) Reviews ...
A Year Without “Made in China”: One Family’s True Life Adventure in the Global Economy ...
A Dangerous Game (Peabody Adventure Series #2) Reviews ...
THE HATHOR HOLOCAUST (Anson Hunter Egyptology adventure thrillers) ...
Mystery Under the Sea, a Doc Savage Adventure (Doc Savage #27) ...
Sharpe's:

1805:

Sharpe:

Trafalgar: