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Sharpe's
Company : The Siege of Badajoz |
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It was a hard winter. For Richard Sharpe it was the worst he could remember. He had lost
his command to a wealthy man -a man with money to buy
the promotion Sharpe coveted. And from England came his oldest enemy - the ruthless,
indestructible Hakeswill - utterly intent on ruining Sharpe. But Sharpe is determined to change his
luck. And the surest way is to lead the bloody attack on the impregnable fortress town of
Badajoz, a road to almost certain death - or unimagined glory... Looming on the border of Portugal and Spain is
the Fortress of Badajoz. It represents the last chance of the Reviews "I have stayed in and explored both Cuidad Rodrigo and Badajoz - altough technically/historically, in the wrong order. I had read "Sharpe's Company" before visiting these fine places, and once again I must say that Bernard Cornwell and his friend Richard Sharpe provided me with a first class insight into the events which culminated in Wellington's capture of these vital fortress towns. What comes across best is the sheer size and apparent impossibility of the task - standing outside the walls, your money would always be on the defenders. Back to the novel though. Leaving aside the historical accuracy of "Company," borne of Mr. Cornwell's meticulate research, what the reader cannot fail to appreciate is the absolute terror of siege warfare in the Napoleonic age. Here we learn about two of Wellington's most important successes of the Peninsular War, both coming in 1812. Followed in the Summer by his brilliant victory at Salamanca, that year was truly the turning point of Napoleon's fortunes in Europe. (Things didn't go particularly well in the East either). The sub-plot finds our old friend Sgt.Obadiah Hakeswill returning to make Sharpe's life a misery. This time he avoids death in the bloody breaches at Badajoz by feigning death, and once inside the walls he finds and attempts to rape Sharpe's wife, killing one of our hero's friends in the process. Sharpe arrives in the nick of time, but Hakeswill escapes, and although we know he will meet his maker eventually, I personally feel that this would have been the opportune moment for Sharpe's ultimate revenge. "Battle," "Company," and "Sword" are, for me at least, the most entertaining and historicaly enlightning of the series. Coming, as they do, consecutively in chronological order, they make for the ultimate Sharpe trilogy, and I would recommend the Sharpe/Peninsula enthusiast to take time out to read all three one after the other" "I'm a little more than halfway through Bernard Cornwell's 'Sharpe' series and so far 'Sharpe's Company' is my favorite. This novel has Richard Sharpe fighting for his command and his family while waging war against the French held fortress of Badajoz. And as though this task wasn't daunting enough, Sharpe's nemisis Obidiah Hakeswill returns to settle an old score. Consistently entertaining, Cornwall's attention to detail is nothing less than awe-inspiring. I would highly recommend 'Sharpe's Comapany' to anyone interested in military fiction or to lovers of great action and suspence novels. " "My dad got me into the absolutly fabulous SHARPE novels. cornwell really knows how to create a character that you want to read about over and over again. i love a good war novel but i never had an intrest in the napoleonic wars befor i read my first Sharpe novel. i have also seen the moive's staring Sean Bean who portrais richard sharpe beautifully. i would recommend any sharpe novel to anyone who loves anything that has to do with war. "
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Buy
the book online in... |
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Paperback - 268 pages (25
April, 1994) HarperCollins
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Audio
Cassette (September 1994) Chivers Audio Books
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Buy the book online in...
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Paperback - 280 pages Reissue edition (November 1994) |
Audio Cassette (July 1995)
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(USA)
