Sharpe's Story [Paperback]

Bernard Cornwell (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 15, 2007

Sharpe's Story is Bernard Cornwell's own account of the Sharpe series; how it began and how it has evolved over nearly thirty years.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Bernard Cornwell is the best-selling author of the Sharpe series, The Saxon stories, the Grail Quest series, the Warlord Chronicles and numerous other books.

Product Details

• Paperback: 121 pages
• Publisher: The Sharpe Appreciation Society; 1st edition (November 15, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0972222030
• ISBN-13: 978-0972222037
• Product Dimensions: 7.8 x 5 x 0.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (20 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #98,243 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #74 in Books > 4-for-3 Books > Literature & Fiction > Genre Fiction > War

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

142 of 142 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Small (115 pp.)Treasure..., January 25, 2008

By 

H. S. Wedekind "Mr. Weekend" (Pennsylvania, USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Sharpe's Story (Paperback)

"SHARPE'S EAGLE wasn't written in a hurry. I had never written a book before and really had no idea how to go about it. Of course, I knew I needed a hero, but I never once sat down and tried to delineate him in my mind; instead I let him develop as I wrote the book."
- Bernard Cornwell (SHARPE'S STORY)

In this small book, Mr. Cornwell tells about his starting with only an idea for one book, his emigration from Belfast, Ireland to America with little money, and his decision to follow the love of his life, Judy, to live and write in a small apartment in New Jersey. What he wanted to write was one novel about a British soldier in Wellington's Army similar to C. S. Forester's sailor, Horatio Hornblower, in Nelson's Navy during the time of the Napoleonic Wars.

In SHARPE'S STORY, Cornwell gives the reader explanations of how he came to choose the names of his characters, which ones he liked the most (Obadiah Hakeswill, if you can believe that!), the ones he named after acquaintances and their children, information about the books' settings in Spain and Portugal, and why he continued to write about Wellington's Peninsular Campaign against Napoleon winding up with 21 novels and three books of shortstories about Rifleman Richard Sharpe. We also learn some tidbits of info about the TV series starring Sean Bean as Sharpe and Daragh O'Malley as sidekick Sgt. Patrick Harper. Finally, the last short segment concerns Cornwell's unhappy childhood growing up one of five adopted children in a very religious home. In this piece, entitled "Cakes and Ale," Cornwell informs us he included the essay "because [it] explains some of the murkier wellsprings from which Sharpe emerged."

This little book is not recommended for those who are unfamiliar with the Sharpe series. We who are fans of these books will enjoy reading about how Sharpe came to be and where the other main characters, both good and bad, entered into the novels. We can only hope that more of Sharpe's adventures will be forthcoming from the pen of Bernard Cornwell.

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A gift for a Sharpe series fan, February 25, 2008

By 

M. Cunningham (Philadelphia, PA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Sharpe's Story (Paperback)

If a friend or family member is a Richard Sharpe fan of either/and books/films, this 100 page booklet is an ideal gift. Bernard Cornwell traces his history with Sharpe, "a rogue on our side", adding fascinating details on every page. Details, like hair color, villains, heroines, etc, will satisfy followers of this series, or pique the interest of new fans.

Plus, the author shares some insights into his own unusual life story, such his Peculiars family life and his search for his biological "tribe."

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars shape's story., October 26, 2008

By 

PTB Kay "ferddbirdy" (Virginia) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Sharpe's Story (Paperback)

an interesting insight into how the series was created. would have made a nice article in a literary mag... not a book.