Sharpe's Fury: Richard Sharpe & the Battle of Barrosa, March 1811 (Richard Sharpe's Adventure Series #11) [Hardcover]

Bernard Cornwell (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 22, 2006

The acclaimed twenty-first novel in the number one bestselling series featuring Richard Sharpe.In the winter of 1811, the war seems lost. All Spain has fallen to the French, except for Cadiz, now the Spanish capital and itself under siege.In Cadiz, Richard Sharpe discovers more than one enemy. One of them, a baleful priest, finds a weapon to break the British alliance and Sharpe must find ways to defeat him in a sinister war of knife and treachery in the dark alleys of the city.As a small British force is trapped by a French army, their only hope lies with the outnumbered redcoats who, on a hill beside the sea, refuse to admit defeat. And there, in the sweltering horror of Barrosa, Sharpe finds his old enemy Colonel Vandal once again.

--This text refers to the Kindle Edition edition.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Capt. Richard Sharpe, upstart rifleman, performs a sensitive mission for Henry Wellesley, the duke of Wellington's younger brother and special envoy to Spain in Cadiz, in bestseller Cornwell's rousing 21st military historical (after 2005's Sharpe's Escape). A secret cabal of Spaniards who favor a rapprochement with France threatens the alliance between England and Spain in the fight against Bonaparte. The conspirators, who include a murderous priest, Fr. Salvador Montseny, have stolen some unfortunate love letters Wellesley wrote to his prostitute amour, Caterina Blazquez, and plan to use them to embarrass the British. It's up to Sharpe to recover the letters and save the alliance. Meanwhile, British troops, with little help from the Spanish army, maneuver to lift the French siege of Cadiz. As usual, Sharpe must contend with a snobbish superior officer, Brigadier Moon, who gets his just reward in a delicious surprise twist at battle's end. One hopes the nasty Father Montseny, who disappears from the action too soon, will return to bedevil Sharpe in future installments. (Sept.)
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From Booklist

Once again, Cornwell is right on target, providing an irresistible combination of rousing military history, penetrating character analysis, and suspenseful martial intrigue. In the twenty-first entry in the best-selling Sharpe series, Cadiz, the last bastion of Spanish independence, is under siege, and it is up to the ever-resourceful Richard Sharpe and his stalwart unit of British soldiers to foil their ruthless French enemies in the winter of 1811. Of course, nothing is that simple, as Sharpe and his comrades become embroiled in much more than basic military maneuvers. The action culminates in the historic Battle of Barossa, which Cornwell--as usual--re-creates in painstakingly bloodcurdling detail. This new installment in a masterful, long-running series set during the Napoleonic Wars, which will appeal equally to devoted fans and to crossover readers who devoured the novels of the late Patrick O'Brian, is stirring British military history at its finest. Margaret Flanagan
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 352 pages
• Publisher: Harper; First Edition edition (August 22, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0060530480
• ISBN-13: 978-0060530488
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6.1 x 1.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (36 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #491,447 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Bernard Cornwell was born in London in 1944 - a 'warbaby' - whose father was a Canadian airman and mother in Britain's Women's Auxiliary Air Force. He was adopted by a family in Essex who belonged to a religious sect called the Peculiar People (and they were), but escaped to London University and, after a stint as a teacher, he joined BBC Television where he worked for the next 10 years. He began as a researcher on the Nationwide programme and ended as Head of Current Affairs Television for the BBC in Northern Ireland. It was while working in Belfast that he met Judy, a visiting American, and fell in love. Judy was unable to move to Britain for family reasons so Bernard went to the States where he was refused a Green Card. He decided to earn a living by writing, a job that did not need a permit from the US government - and for some years he had been wanting to write the adventures of a British soldier in the Napoleonic wars - and so the Sharpe series was born. Bernard and Judy married in 1980, are still married, still live in the States and he is still writing Sharpe.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

23 of 25 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars "Bejabbers, Boys, I Have the Cuckoo", September 19, 2006

By 

Douglas S. Wood "Vicarious Life" (Monona, WI) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Sharpe's Fury: Richard Sharpe & the Battle of Barrosa, March 1811 (Richard Sharpe's Adventure Series #11) (Hardcover)

As Cornwell explains in his always enlightening 'historical note' he visted the Barrossa battlefield while on a personal trip to Spain and thus Sharpe and Harper were sure to follow.

Sharpe's Fury tells the tale of a crucial turning point in the Penninsular War against Napoleon's armies - the 1811 Battle of Barrossa. Spain (or the Spain that was allied with Britain) was reduced to a foothold in Cadiz. The British won (with virtually no Spanish help) and a tide was turned. The battle also featured the first 'eagle' (or cuckoo) taken by the British (Sharpe's Eagle notwithstanding).

I've read nearly all the Sharpe books (as well several other Cornwell novels) and I found Sharpe's Fury to be every bit as good as any of the others (well, except maybe Sharpe's Fortress, a personal favorite). The book features an exciting retelling of a famous Napleonic battle with numerous real historical characters (Thomas Graham, Henry Wellesley, and Sgt. Patrick Masterson to name a few) and of course a beautiful and intelligent woman.

Highly recommended for fans of Sharpe, historical action novels or the Napleonic wars.

13 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Not too bad, but we have heard the story before!, January 25, 2007

By 

Thomas D. Hehenberger "Tom from Boone" (Boone, North Carolina) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Sharpe's Fury: Richard Sharpe & the Battle of Barrosa, March 1811 (Richard Sharpe's Adventure Series #11) (Hardcover)

If you are a first time fan of the Sharpe series, I believe that you will enjoy this new addition to the much loved series. But as a long time fan, I felt somewhat disappointed in this book largely for 3 reasons:
1. We have read this story before with the revenge motiffs and this story did not add a whole lot to this legendary motivation of Richard Sharpe.
2. No particularly compelling bad-guy--this book needed Pierre Ducos or Sgt. Hakeswill very badly!
3. No compelling love interest for Sharpe--a little fling for Sharpe in the first half--but no woman encountered who was all that interesting!

Having said all that, the last quarter of the book which describes the battle of Barrosa is extremely fine and exciting which elevates this Sharpe novel a bit. There are however, much finer Sharpe novels out there and I heartily recomend them-but Sharpe's Fury rates a C+ or a B- at best with me!

12 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Middling Sharpe, but still enjoyable., September 1, 2006

By 

Charlotte Ford - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Sharpe's Fury: Richard Sharpe & the Battle of Barrosa, March 1811 (Richard Sharpe's Adventure Series #11) (Hardcover)

For those who have read all of the previously-published Sharpe novels, this is one of the weakest. The beginning is a pleasant refresher for people who haven't read a Sharpe story in a few years, but probably repetitious for those who are reading the novels in chronological order for the first time.

The best part of the novel is the second section, in which Sharpe once again bails his "betters" out of problems of their own making and meets, inevitably, a beautiful and inappropriate woman.

The third section, the actual battle of Barrosa, is one of the least exciting of the many recounted in the series. Much of the description seems like filler.

Nevertheless, any Sharpe story is welcome. I just hope that Bernard Cornwell can think of some new adventures, perhaps set after Waterloo, to keep Sharpe and Harper marching somewhere new.