Sharpe's Fortress: Richard Sharpe and the Siege of Gawilghur, December 1803

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I'm gonna be a broken record, and this was just more of the same completely gripping stuff as the last two books. This is the end to the India arc of the series, and I'm sad at that since it was such tremendous fun going on adventures in this setting that was like a version of the Wild West I never knew existed. As this is one of my few 5 Stars, I do not have much bad to say. My only real criticism is that some elements of the book have become formulaic after 3 books, fight Hawkswill, find a woman, make unlikely friends with some kid. That said, these elements do not form a major portion of the story and do not detract from the novel as a whole. The Indian trilogy wraps up brilliantly. if you have read the series you know what to expect by now. if not what you waiting for. there is a brief love interest, corrupt officers, and Sharpe single handily taking a impregnable fortress. Manu Bappoo, the younger brother of the Rajah of Berar, decides to turn around and fight the British again, with his best unit, composed of Arab mercenaries, leading the charge, but he is again routed. During the fighting, Sharpe is impressed by the bravery of a teenage Arab boy, Ahmed, and saves his life when the boy is surrounded. Ahmed becomes his servant.

Sharpe is a series of historical fiction stories by Bernard Cornwell centred on the character of British soldier Richard Sharpe. The stories formed the basis for an ITV television series featuring Sean Bean in the title role. As I have been devouring a Sharpe a week, it is perhaps time to comment, for after this third volume the hero of the series is at last leaving India…. Major William Dodd – the traitorous British East India Company lieutenant now serving Scindia, he commands a specialize Sepoy company known as Dodd's Cobras This book is a four star and not a five star because of how obviously it's a prequel, though. What is with authors making prequels and then saying to themselves, "hey, this character doesn't exist later on, so they *must* die?" it's unimaginative and predictable. And using Hakeswell as the villain for all three of these novels was a mistake, ESPECIALLY with how each time, Sharpe leaves him to be killed by some animal and then, inexplicably, the animals don't kill him. THREE BOOKS IN A ROW, BERNARD?! Unbelievable. During the early years of the Peninsula Campaign, Sharpe's affections are torn between a Portuguese courtesan, Josefina LaCosta, and the Spanish partisan leader Teresa Moreno ( Sharpe's Eagle, Sharpe's Gold). Teresa bears Sharpe a daughter, Antonia ( Sharpe's Company), in 1811, and marries Sharpe in 1812, but is murdered a year later by Sharpe's longtime enemy, deserter Obadiah Hakeswill ( Sharpe's Enemy). Sharpe leaves his daughter to be raised by Teresa's family, and, as far as is known, never sees her again. Over the same period, Sharpe also has affairs with an English governess, Sarah Fry ( Sharpe's Escape); Caterina Veronica Blazquez, a prostitute who has beguiled Henry Wellesley, Sir Arthur's brother ( Sharpe's Fury); and the French spy Hélène Leroux ( Sharpe's Sword, Sharpe's Honour).That said, Sharpe’s tales have a much more contemporary flavor, and not only in the terseness of the language, carnage of the action and sometimes suspect sensationalism (as, when Indian janni “religious musclemen” drive enormous nails into the heads of condemned men with their bare hands). What I sense is the creeping of modern super-heroism into the adventures and misadventures of this child of a London whore avoided by every musket ball.…

To avoid arrest, Sharpe takes the " King's shilling", joining the 33rd Foot, as a result of the blandishments of recruiting sergeant Obadiah Hakeswill. The regiment is first sent to Flanders in 1794, where Sharpe fights in his first battle, at Boxtel. The next year, he and his regiment are posted to India, under the command of the British East India Company.

Further Reading

After making their way to Portugal, and taking part in the Battle of the Douro, Sharpe and his surviving 30 riflemen are attached to the Light Company of the South Essex Regiment (a fictional regiment) as part of Wellesley's Peninsula Army. Some of the men Sharpe commands in the South Essex are:

Retrieving and restoring the Imperial Family's treasure (in his note, Cornwell notes that several chests of personal belongings and riches did get lost in the chaos of the French defeat of 1814, but how this happened and their final fate are unknown) Storming the walls of the inner fortress at Gawilghur and opening the gates to the besieging forces (in reality, this was achieved by Captain Campbell leading the light company of the 94th Scotch Brigade; in the novel, Campbell and his troops are the first to join Sharpe once they realise what he's planning);

There is some minor use of adult language. The main character will swear from time to time but as a rule he tends to avoid it. Cornwell had enjoyed C. S. Forester's Horatio Hornblower novels, which depict a Royal Navy officer's career from midshipman to Admiral of the Fleet and retirement. When he could not find a similar series for the British Army, he decided to write it himself. As a further inducement, he had fallen in love with an American woman who, for various reasons, could not leave the United States, so he relocated. He could not get a green card or work permit, so he wrote the first Sharpe novel to make a living. Taking command of a regiment in driving off the advance of the French Imperial Guard at the Battle of Waterloo (the regiments who actually held off the Imperial Guard are in the novel as well); urn:lcp:sharpesfortressr00corn:epub:605578e9-face-4978-bf2a-81bc76501358 Extramarc Brown University Library Foldoutcount 0 Identifier sharpesfortressr00corn Identifier-ark ark:/13960/t7tm9ph56 Invoice 11 Isbn 9780060194246