Sharpe's Prey: Richard Sharpe & the Expedition to Denmark, 1807 (Richard Sharpe's Adventure Series #5) [Large Print] [Hardcover]

Bernard Cornwell (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 2002

The eighteenth novel in this bestselling series takes Sharpe to battle in Copenhagen, in this the sequel to Sharpe's Trafalgar. It is 1807 and Sharpe, back from India and Trafalgar, has joined the newly formed Greenjackets -- but his career is in ruins, and his future in the army apparently hopeless. He is rescued from disgrace by General Sir David Baird, an old comrade from India, who needs a 'disposable' man for a mission in Copenhagen. An army is travelling to the Danish capital to enforce British policy, but unless Sharpe can complete the mission against enemies as subtle and clever as any he has ever faced, that army will meet disaster.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

The traditional military adventure yarn remains alive and well in the capable hands of Cornwell, as his up-from-the-ranks hero, Richard Sharpe, though stuck in the lowly role of regimental quartermaster, finds himself in the thick of the 1807 British campaign to destroy the Danish navy anchored in Copenhagen before the French can seize the ships and pose another invasion threat. As ever, the story starts fast, here with the murder of an English army officer in London by Captain John Lavisser a traitor working for the French and as vile a villain as any Sharpe has faced and scarcely lets up until Sharpe's final confrontation with Lavisser during the British bombardment of Copenhagen. Along with the swashbuckling action, Sharpe finds romance with the widowed daughter of Britain's top Danish agent, Astrid Skovgaard, who helps him get over the loss of Grace, the aristocratic young woman he met in his last outing, Sharpe's Trafalgar, but who died in childbirth. Much of the suspense hinges on whether Sharpe will quit the army and remain in Denmark, or persuade Astrid to return with him to England. Unlike Patrick O'Brian, Cornwell doesn't dwell on the details of early 19th-century life, writing in plain prose that neither evokes nor obviously violates period. This is the 18th installment in the Sharpe series (which now covers the years from 1799 to 1821, with a few small gaps). It's anyone's guess how many more are still to come, but Cornwell fans will welcome each and every one.

Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Booklist

The eighteenth installment in Cornwell's impeccably researched and plotted Richard Sharpe series bristles with action and intrigue. Though Sharpe usually spends his days foiling enemies on gritty battlefields, this time around he is assigned to a delicate diplomatic mission. After returning from a successful tour of duty in India, Richard has a difficult time readjusting to the petty distinctions and distractions of His Majesty's army in Britain. Humiliated by his relegation to the post of quartermaster and desolated by the death of his beloved Grace, an embittered Richard contemplates resigning his recently acquired commission. Persuaded by a wily old general to serve as bodyguard to Captain John Lavisser, aide to the duke of York, on a top-secret expedition to Denmark, he welcomes the change of scenery and relishes the opportunity to flex his considerable muscles. When Lavisser is exposed as a double agent determined to secure the Danish fleet for France, Richard must rely on his native intelligence and his formidable combat skills to stay alive in an elaborately crafted game of cat-and-mouse. The undisputed master of the military adventure, Cornwell delivers another suspenseful, historically accurate episode in the chronicles of a resourceful Napoleonic-era soldier. Margaret Flanagan
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 506 pages
• Publisher: Thorndike Press (May 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0786241217
• ISBN-13: 978-0786241217
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 5.7 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (39 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,478,651 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

27 of 27 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars The Action Continues, January 8, 2002

By 

Lewis H. Knickerbocke "Lew Knick" (Fort Myers, FL USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Sharpe's Prey: Richard Sharpe & the Expedition to Denmark, 1807 (Richard Sharpe's Adventure Series #5) (Hardcover)

When Bernard Cornwell wrote Sharpe's Rifles almost two decades ago, it is obvious he did not intend to add novels before the peninsular campaign. Now there are four, with the most recent being Sharp's Prey, a story of the British 1807 bombardment of Copenhagen with Richard Sharp serving as a spy.

The story starts off slowly, with an explanation of Sharpe's experiences between Sharpe's Trafalgar and the current novel: his financial difficulties, the horror of London in 1807, and the introduction of the prey. It is not until we get half way into the book that the traditional Sharp appears, the battleground Sharp, although for the most part he is the spy Sharp. There is even a love interest.

Some of the supporting cast comes from Sharpe's Trafalgar, but most are unique to this effort-and they are well drawn and interesting. Unfortunately, they must disappear, as the remaining history between Sharp's Prey and Sharpe's Rifles is Wellington in Portugal, most likely Cornwell's next Sharpe story.

As always, Cornwell is a superb wordsmith. His descriptions of Copenhagen are real, and, from time to time, there are sentences that summarize a character-that say it all in shorthand. My only complaint is Sharpe's nemesis is not as evil as others in the series-I can almost like and understand this one.

20 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Another wonderful story of Sharpe, January 9, 2002

By 

James Comfort "jim comfort" (Dallas) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Sharpe's Prey: Richard Sharpe & the Expedition to Denmark, 1807 (Richard Sharpe's Adventure Series #5) (Hardcover)

As one of those who has the complete set of Sharpe, I preordered the book, and started reading it the same evening I received it. It is always nice to follow the story of an old friend such as Sharpe. The history of the early 1800's comes to life in these stories. Here we see the contrast between the poor of England and Denmark as Sharpe travels back to his childhood and settles old scores, and then to Denmark and sees the contrast in Denmark. Wonderful battle scenes.The story of a battle of the British/French wars that we know little about. We see Sharpe and Wellington as they meet after three years. Harper makes an appearence. Just a wonderful read. I always read these books through for the story and color, then go back and read it again for clarity. I look forward to more of Sharpe over the coming years. Highly recommended.

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Sharpe's shakespearean adventure, February 9, 2002

By 

tertius3 (MI United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Sharpe's Prey: Richard Sharpe & the Expedition to Denmark, 1807 (Richard Sharpe's Adventure Series #5) (Hardcover)

Sharpe's Prey starts with a bang, or rather a couple of bloody cuts. Richard is at his rawest and most vicious, thoroughly at wit's end with his degraded status, life, and prospects. Revisiting his orphanage, this is the fullest exposition we've had of just how low was Sharpe's start in life. The rest of the story doesn't consistently match this intensity, exposing a fundamentally sentimental outlook strange in a slum kid and a silent Victorian attitude to sex on Cornwell's part. The book becomes a series of loose episodes, a Danish interlude between Sharpe's years in India and serious work in the Peninsular Campaign, flitting here and there across Zealand and into Copenhagen. We get glimpses of series characters past like Wellesley (the Duke) or future, Rifleman Harper. The villain of the piece is a very smooth and deceptive traitor, quite unlike Sharpe's nemesis Hakeswill (absent here). One of the most terrifying sections describes what it was like to be on the receiving end of British platoon fire (while Sharpe is spying within the Danish ranks). This is almost as terrible to behold as the indomitable courage of the Scots at Assaye or the Forlorn Hope at Badajoz, pinnacles of battle writing elsewhere in the Sharpe series. We get to see a number of different susceptibilities to the presence of a vast treasure in gold, with Sharpe always rather close by. Another vignette features the first blooding of the Rifle Battalion as skirmishers. The hb cover art doesn't make much sense. Too bad the artist didn't choose the spectacular fireworks described for the bombardment of the city. But the two maps are really helpful (and also for Alexander Kent's mapless story of Nelson's earlier attack on Copenhagen: "The Inshore Squadron," Bolitho #13).

There are two years to go to Spain; shall we get another story before Sharpe appears there? Did I hear that there's one called Sharpe's Justice, righting wrongs on the Scottish Border?