Sharpe's Triumph (Richard Sharpe's Adventure Series #2) - Softcover

Cornwell, Bernard

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0006510302 ISBN 13: 9780006510307

Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers Canada, Limited, 2001

Synopsis

The latest of Cornwell's perennially popular Sharpe adventures, returning, like Sharpe's Tiger, to India, and culminating with the battle at Assaye which Wellington considered his greatest victory. Repackaged in the fantastic new Sharpe look. As millions of readers came to know Bernard Cornwell's brilliant creation Richard Sharpe as he fought his way through the Peninsular War, so they discovered that Sharpe had started his soldiering career in India. In 1997, Sharpe's Tiger finally lifted the veil on this exciting early life and became the biggest-selling Sharpe novel of all. Now, the year is 1803 and young Sergeant Richard Sharpe is still in India where, following his successes in Sharpe's Tiger, he is on the trail of a renegade East India Company officer. The pursuit takes him through the vicious siege of Ahmednuggur to the bloody battlefield of Assaye where the future Duke of Wellington won what he considered to be his greatest victory, with Richard Sharpe, naturally, at his side. Full of the action and drama and atmosphere that have made this series so immensely popular with both readers and television viewers, Sharpe's Triumph will be one of the most eagerly awaited novels of the year.

About this title

From the Back Cover:

With the return of the brave English sergeant Richard Sharpe--here, to battle the mercenary forces of the Mahratta confederation in India in 1803--Bernard Cornwell claims his rightful place alongside Patrick O'Brian as a contemporary master of historical narrative. Sharpe's Triumph is a riveting story of betrayal and revenge that showcases the deft blend of suspenseful military adventure and sweeping historical detail that has made each new installment of the Richard Sharpe series a number one bestseller in Great Britain and around the world.

In the four years since he earned his sergeant's stripes at the bloody siege of Seringapatam, young Richard Sharpe has lead a peaceful existence. But this relatively easy life meets with a brutal end when he is the sole survivor of a murderous attack at the hands of Major William Dodd, a cold-blooded English officer who has defected from the East India Company to join the mercenary forces of the Mahratta confederation.

Sharpe rises from the killing field at Fort Chasalgaon vowing to avenge his dead comrades, even if it means pursuing the turncoat Dodd to the very ends of the continent. It is a quest that takes him deep into the heart of enemy territory, where the accepted rules of engagement have been discarded, where ever-shifting loyalties create an environment of dangerous uncertainty, forcing Sharpe to guard against attacks from enemy and friend.

The paths of treachery ultimately lead to the small village of Assaye, where Sharpe's company joins the army of Sir Arthur Wellesley--the future Duke of Wellington--to take on the Mahratta horde. Outnumbered and outgunned, Wellesley bravely seizes an unexpected geographical advantage and charges into the white heat of a battle that will make his reputation. It is a bloody confrontation that will make Sharpe's name, too--but first he must survive the carnage and live to tell the tale of what will be remembered as one of the greatest battles of its century.

 

 

About the Author:

Bernard Cornwell worked for BBC TV for seven years, mostly as producer on the Nationwide programme, before taking charge of the Current Affairs department in Northern Ireland. In 1978 he became editor of Thames Television's Thames at Six. Married to an American, he now lives in the United States.

About this edition

• Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers Canada, Limited
• Publication date: 2001
• ISBN 10: 0006510302
• ISBN 13: 9780006510307
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 382