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Sharpe's
Enemy |
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promoted, Major Richard Sharpe leads his small force into the biting cold of the winter
mountains. His task is to rescue a group of well-born women held hostage by a rabble of deserters. And one of the renegades is Sergeant Hakeswill, Sharpe's most implacable enemy. But the rescue is the least of Sharpe's problems. He must face a far greater threat. With only the support of his own company and the new Rocket Troop - the last word in military incompetence - to back his gamble, Sharpe cannot afford even to recognise the prospect of defeat. For to surrender - or to fail -would mean the end of the war for the Allied armies... "Stirring...Imaginative...Inventive" EVENING STANDARD Reviews "I have read all the Sharpe novels and in my opinion, this is the most entertaining. Unfortunately, it is one of the few that is not based on historical accounts, but there is enough realism to make it interesting. From the new-fangled "rockets" that are put to good use to the descriptions of early 19th century Christmas celebrations to the wonderfully evil Hakeswill to incompetent senior officers, this book has it all. Sharpe has a chance to lead a battalion of troops against an enemy of overwhelming numerical superiority and, in the Sharpe tradition, does it through a combination of ferocious and dirty fighting. One has to wonder how much more quickly Britain would have won the Peninsula wars if they had promoted all officers based on merit instead of patronage and cash. To get the full flavor of the book, however, it should not be read out of sequence with the rest of the novels in the series. The twist at the end (which I will not reveal here) is somewhat of a downer, but it provides motivation in later novels. "
"Somehow, I've been aware for years of Cornwall's series set in the Napoleonic wars, and the BBC productions based on them, but haven't gotten around to sampling either book or video until this. It is obviously in the middle of the series, but the reader does not suffer from this. You can pretty quickly tell which characters are reoccurring ones, and indeed the British hero Sharpe finally has it out with his old enemy Obadiah Hakeswell (great name!) in this volume. Certainly, there would be greater deliciousness if I'd read of their previous encounters, but Cornwall effectively summarizes them so that one is satisfied. The military action centers around a small Spanish village near the Portuguese border, in which a band of deserters are holding hostage a number of innocent women, including the wives of some British and French officers. Sharpe is assigned the task of their rescue, and then later assumes great responsibilities as he must meet a challenge from the French. There is some good stuff about how the British officers operated, and some fun with the first rocket artillery unit in war. Despite all these heroics, Cornwall keeps the horror and senseless waste of war in clear focus. The ending is especially bittersweet, though not unexpected. I'll definitely be looking to read this series in order, or at least check out the videos. "
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Buy
the book online in... |
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Paperback - 352 pages (25
April, 1994) HarperCollins
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Buy the book online in...
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Paperback - 351 pages Reissue edition (May 1995) |
Audio Cassette cassett edition (July 1996)
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(USA)
