Sharpe's Trafalgar

Starred review from April 16, 2001
Nobody describes bloody battle scenes better than Cornwell, and even he outdoes himself with this riveting novel about the epic naval battle off Spain's Cape Trafalgar in 1805. This is the 17th volume in his popular Napoleonic War series about Richard Sharpe, a brutish yet admirable soldier in the British army. Here Cornwell jumps back chronologically in Sharpe's glorious career to 1805, when Sharpe is promoted from the ranks for saving Lord Arthur Wellesley's life in India. Loaded down with looted jewels, the bastard son of a London whore heads back to England to a posting with the famous 95th Rifle Regiment. His battlefield promotion to junior officer rank makes common soldiers wary, and gentlemen officers scornful, and Sharpe decidedly uncomfortable in a role he does not yet know how to play. But he certainly knows how to fight. As usual, there is not only plenty of action but romance and intrigue as well. Sailing aboard a large East India Company merchant ship, Sharpe encounters a wealthy married woman whose charms he cannot resist, a pompous English lord he cannot stand and a host of treacherous fellow passengers. Unusual circumstances, betrayal and some bad luck next find him aboard a British ship-of-the-line in pursuit of a French warship in the Atlantic. Beyond the murky horizon lies an unexpected rendezvous at Trafalgar, where Lord Nelson and the British fleet wait to meet the combined French and Spanish fleets. The naval battle occupies the last hundred pages and is stunning for its ferocity, detail, historical accuracy and suspense. Cornwell's fans will love Sharpe at sea in this latest installment in a first-rate series. (May)Forecast:Cornwell's books are major bestsellers in the U.K.—
Sharpe's Trafalgar hit the top of the charts—and HarperCollins is pushing for similar success in the U.S. An eight-city author tour, national advertising and a 25-city national radio campaign will help, but word of mouth generated by satisfied readers should be even more effective.

March 15, 2001
Can this popular historical novelist possibly keep up the high standards of entertainment he has demonstrated so far in his Richard Sharpe series of swashbuckling adventure tales set during the Napoleonic era? Does the latest installment, the seventeenth in the series, show any lessening of Cornwell's power to evoke times past and build characters who are both believable and larger than life? Not in the least. As the story here opens, Ensign Sharpe has been in India for five months and is now returning to England to join a new army unit. It is on Sharpe's long journey home, aboard ship, that the action of this skillfully executed, finely researched, and delightfully diverting yarn takes place. The convoy on its way to fair Albion's shores must deal with a French ship lurking in the Indian Ocean that has the habit of swooping down out of nowhere and seizing English ships for booty. Meanwhile, Sharpe has spotted potential trouble onboard his own ship: some passengers whom the ensign feels are not who they pretend to be. From those two sources of conflict comes the energy that drives this compelling narrative. The high-seas battle scenes are brilliantly written, and the love scenes (Sharpe has a shipboard romance, as if he were on a Caribbean cruise) tenderly so. The author's fans will eat this one up.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2001, American Library Association.)

Starred review from April 15, 2001
The 17th in Cornwell's Richard Sharpe series, this is a bit different. In the tradition of Patrick O'Brian, it takes place at sea rather than on the usual battlefield. Sharpe finds himself on a homeward-bound ship to England after duty in India. He has some problems adjusting to sea life but learns quickly. When his ship is attacked by the French, Sharpe finds out that that the French ship contains a treaty that could cause a new outbreak of hostilities between India and the British. The result is the 1805 Battle of Trafalgar. As always, Cornwell satisfyingly delivers action, adventure, and a great gallery of villains and heroes, plus the usual beautiful lady. Recommended for all public libraries. [Previewed in Prepub Alert, LJ 2/15/00.] Fred Gervat, Concordia Coll., Bronxville, NY

Copyright 2001 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

February 15, 2001
This is being billed as Cornwell's breakout novel, but his Sharpe series has already garnered quite a few readers. Here, Sharpe sails home from India straight into the famed battle off Cape Trafalgar.

Copyright 2001 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.