Sharpe's Revenge

Rating:
Summary: Sharpe on the Run
Review: 'Sharpe's Revenge' takes the series' hero, Richard Sharpe, through the battle of Toulouse to the end of the war with France. But Sharpe's old enemy, Pierre Ducos, has yet another scheme cooking which will make him extremely wealthy and leave Sharpe implicated in the disappearence of Napoleon's fortune. To redeem his name Sharpe, Sergeant Harper, and Captian Fredrickson must roam a newly peaceful Europe in search of Ducos. A bit of a transition novel in the series, it does tend to stray a little from the battlefield adventures of the other books, nevertheless it is a fun and exciting story that paves the way for the next novel in the series, 'Waterloo.'

Rating:
Summary: Sharpe on the Run
Review: 'Sharpe's Revenge' takes the series' hero, Richard Sharpe, through the battle of Toulouse to the end of the war with France. But Sharpe's old enemy, Pierre Ducos, has yet another scheme cooking which will make him extremely wealthy and leave Sharpe implicated in the disappearence of Napoleon's fortune. To redeem his name Sharpe, Sergeant Harper, and Captian Fredrickson must roam a newly peaceful Europe in search of Ducos. A bit of a transition novel in the series, it does tend to stray a little from the battlefield adventures of the other books, nevertheless it is a fun and exciting story that paves the way for the next novel in the series, 'Waterloo.'

Rating:
Summary: Revenge is sweet
Review: At first a little disappointed as Cornwell spends a lot of time away from the battlefield, but he cleverly drags us along as Sharpe's outlook changes, so does ours. Good story with more than the usual twists and turns, and perhaps and ending that is just a little bit too sweet. Excellent outing for Sharpe & Harper.

Rating:
Summary: Not bad...
Review: I've enjoyed reading Cornwell's series of Civil War novels (the Starbuck series). I recommend them, however, only with certain reservations.

These books are best approached as works of pure fiction that are set against approximations of history. People who read them either as an introduction to or as an adjunct to a study of actual history need to be wary here. Cornwell is a novelist, not an historian. Usually he gets the facts right; sometimes he does not. He freely invents major characters and events, and there are places where he alters established historical fact to suit his fiction. The result can be confusing.

For example, in _Copperhead_, Cornwell has Johnston hatching the battle plan for the Seven Pines offensive all on his own. That's not the way it happened. What's known about what did happen is far more interesting than Cornwell's altered and simplified version of events.

The second bone I have to pick with Cornwell's Civil War books, is that people who have read his previous novels (the Sharpe series) will find the many of the same characters and themes recurring in these. The characters here are somewhat less one-dimensional, but they're still transparent and predictable. The dialog is better.

As an historical novelist, I would spot Cornwell somewhere between Patrick O'Brian and the Shaaras (Michael and Jeff). He's not as good a novelist as O'Brian; he's not as good an historian as the Shaaras. On the other hand, he's almost as good as all of them combined. Not quite, but almost.

For those looking for the best Civil War novels, I would read these only after first reading the Shaaras' trilogy and The Red Badge of Courage. If at all possible, I would then read them alongside more carefully written accounts of the historical backgrounds.

That said, this is an excellent series of books. It will hold your attention and give you a fairly accurate impression of the sorts of things that really did go on back then. The facts are somewhat loose, but the final impression you'll get will not be.

Rating:
Summary: Bittersweet Sharpe
Review: If I can grossly break Sharpe readers into two camps (those who read just for the battle scenes, and those who read for the story of Richard Sharpe, of which battle scenes are one thrilling part), then Sharpe's Revenge is definitely for the second group. Other than the surprisingly hard-fought battle of Toulouse at the start, Revenge concerns Sharpe's (almost) one-man adventures in post-war Europe.

It's a strange world for Sharpe (and the Sharpe reader), one in which the dogged British army we've come to admire through ten books of the Peninsula War is no longer the underdog fighting overwhelming odds, but is the overwhelming force itself. Everyone knows Napoleon is doomed. Indeed, it's sad to read about the bloodshed at Toulouse because sacrifices which seemed heroic a year earlier just seemed tragically unnecessary in April 1814. What a sad thing to be the last soldier killed in a war.

Like the army, Sharpe is changing. As he gets older (he's now 36), he's losing his relish for battle and finding it harder to keep down the fear. For much of the book, his friend Frederickson is the go-getter, as Sharpe struggles with self-doubt over his post-army role, his wife's infidelities, etc.

And, after victory, the army is broken apart and Sharpe is adrift in this new world. But, of course, not for long. There's one more adventure with Harper and out of it, Sharpe's post-war world takes shape.

Rating:
Summary: The last hurrah for Major Ducos!
Review: The war with Napoleon is finaly over and the Brittish troops are prepairing to return to England. Unfortunately Major Ducos has different plan for our hero Sharpe. Framed for stealing the treasures of Napoleon, Sharpe and Harper must travel to Italy and even fight along side the troops of an old enemy to clear his name and exact revenge. Cornwell does well in capturing the anger in Richard Sharpe. His writing style helps the reader to feel exactly what his characters are feeling. While the war with Napoleon is over there really can be no lasting peace for Richard Sharpe. Bernard Cornwell will never let Sharpe retire into a quiet life and thank goodness for us Sharpe fans!

Rating:
Summary: The last hurrah for Major Ducos!
Review: The war with Napoleon is finaly over and the Brittish troops are prepairing to return to England. Unfortunately Major Ducos has different plan for our hero Sharpe. Framed for stealing the treasures of Napoleon, Sharpe and Harper must travel to Italy and even fight along side the troops of an old enemy to clear his name and exact revenge. Cornwell does well in capturing the anger in Richard Sharpe. His writing style helps the reader to feel exactly what his characters are feeling. While the war with Napoleon is over there really can be no lasting peace for Richard Sharpe. Bernard Cornwell will never let Sharpe retire into a quiet life and thank goodness for us Sharpe fans!

Rating:
Summary: A good, but not the best, Sharpe adventure.
Review: This book is set right after Sharpes siege. It pretty much continues on from there.

This book puts the penisular wars to rest. The peace has left the winning British army being disbanded and sent home. But Sharpes nemesis, Ducos, has one more torture to put Sharpe through. The book sees Sharpe and Fredrickson (followed always by Harper) on the run from both the British and the French armies. The rest you have to read but it is a great story and it fits in perfectly with the series as a whole.

4 Stars

Rating:
Summary: A good, but not the best, Sharpe adventure.
Review: This book is set right after Sharpes siege. It pretty much continues on from there.

This book puts the penisular wars to rest. The peace has left the winning British army being disbanded and sent home. But Sharpes nemesis, Ducos, has one more torture to put Sharpe through. The book sees Sharpe and Fredrickson (followed always by Harper) on the run from both the British and the French armies. The rest you have to read but it is a great story and it fits in perfectly with the series as a whole.

4 Stars