Sharpe's Fortress (Richard Sharpe Adventure Series #3)

Cornwell, Bernard

4.2

14,080 ratings by Goodreads

9780754053194: Sharpe's Fortress (Richard Sharpe Adventure Series #3)

ISBN 10: 0754053199 ISBN 13: 9780754053194

Publisher: Chivers Audio Books, 2000

Sharpe is now an officer in Sir Arthur Wellesley's army that is seeking to end the Mahratta War. Sharpe, just risen from the ranks, discovers that his fellow officers are not welcoming. He is relegated to a job in the baggage train. There, Sharpe discovers a treason has been conjured up by Sergeant Obadiah Hakeswill.

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Review:

Fighting in the millet fields of India circa 1803, Richard Sharpe knows trouble when he sees it: dissension in the ranks, a feverish and arrogant enemy, nobody to confide in. Unbeknownst to his comrades, Sharpe has buried a fortune in booty along the way. He knows his freedom is coming, and it's only a matter of time before he can feast on the spoils. Sharpe's Fortress is the 17th in Bernard Cornwell's series starring this colonial British soldier who has risen in the ranks despite blunders and misadventures, not to mention his own suspicions of the men around him.

Treason, near-death experiences, cannonballs hidden in the tall grass "sticky with blood and thick with flies, lying twenty paces from the man it had eviscerated," these are the elements of Cornwell's war stories, which rely heavily on long, involved--and involving--battle scenes, marvelous description, and bawdy dialogue in the trenches (a highlight: arguments over whether there's such a thing as breasts that look like grapes). For readers who hunger for humorous, complex characterizations, Sharpe proves vivid and three-dimensional. He holds tightly to his dreams of treasure, eavesdropping on betrayers, ultimately hatching a desperate plan to make his way to the fortress in the sky, Gawilghur. Cornwell's hero is an honest soldier, and also a pragmatic one. He doesn't care as much about the medals and the glory as he cares about dodging cannon fire and finding a place to sleep. --Ellen Williams

From the Back Cover:

Be prepared for scenes of great action & heroic.

The sword hissed an inch behind the boy's neck.
"I said to leave him alone!"
Sharpe said. "Or do you want to fight me instead?"
"None of us," a calm voice said behind Sharpe, "wants to fight Ensign Sharpe."

Richard Sharpe.

Soldier, hero, rogue—the man you always want on your side. Born in poverty, he joined the army to escape jail and climbed the ranks by sheer brutal courage. He knows no other family than the regiment of the 95th Rifles, whose green jacket he proudly wears.

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