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Sharpe #4-6

Sharpe 3 Book Collection #3

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*SHARPE’S COMMAND, the brand new novel in the global bestselling series, is available to pre-order now*Three classic Richard Sharpe adventures.

Richard Sharpe and the Battle of Trafalgar, 21 October 1805

Ensign Richard Sharpe is on his way home from India. He is sailing with the Royal Navy, who are hunting a formidable French warship, the ‘Revenant’, carrying a secret treaty that may prove lethal to the British.

Richard Sharpe and the Expedition to Copenhagen, 1807

Lieutenant Richard Sharpe, newly returned to England, is offered a new go to Copenhagen, help deliver a bribe, and stop a war. To him, it seems easy. But the bribe is to stop the Danes allowing the French to possess their battle fleet, big enough to replace every warship lost at Trafalgar.

Richard Sharpe and the French Invasion of Galicia, January 1809

Britains’s forces are retreating towards Corunna during a bitter winter, with Napoleon’s victorious armies in pursuit. Lieutenant Richard Sharpe and a detachment of Riflemen are cut off from the rest of the army and surrounded.

863 pages, Kindle Edition

First published October 1, 2011

194 people are currently reading
103 people want to read

About the author

Bernard Cornwell

536 books19.1k followers
Cornwell was born in London in 1944. His father was a Canadian airman, and his mother, who was English, a member of the Women's Auxiliary Air Force. He was adopted and brought up in Essex by the Wiggins family, who were members of the Peculiar People, a strict Protestant sect who banned frivolity of all kinds and even medicine. After he left them, he changed his name to his birth mother's maiden name, Cornwell.

Cornwell was sent away to Monkton Combe School, attended the University of London, and after graduating, worked as a teacher. He attempted to enlist in the British armed services at least three times but was rejected on the grounds of myopia.

He then joined BBC's Nationwide and was promoted to become head of current affairs at BBC Northern Ireland. He then joined Thames Television as editor of Thames News. He relocated to the United States in 1980 after marrying an American. Unable to get a green card, he started writing novels, as this did not require a work permit.

As a child, Cornwell loved the novels of C.S. Forester, chronicling the adventures of fictional British naval officer Horatio Hornblower during the Napoleonic Wars, and was surprised to find there were no such novels following Lord Wellington's campaign on land. Motivated by the need to support himself in the U.S. through writing, Cornwell decided to write such a series. He named his chief protagonist Richard Sharpe, a rifleman involved in most major battles of the Peninsular War.

Cornwell wanted to start the series with the Siege of Badajoz but decided instead to start with a couple of "warm-up" novels. These were Sharpe's Eagle and Sharpe's Gold, both published in 1981. Sharpe's Eagle was picked up by a publisher, and Cornwell got a three-book deal. He went on to tell the story of Badajoz in his third Sharpe novel, Sharpe's Company, published in 1982.

Cornwell and wife Judy co-wrote a series of novels, published under the pseudonym "Susannah Kells". These were A Crowning Mercy, published in 1983, Fallen Angels in 1984, and Coat of Arms (aka The Aristocrats) in 1986. (Cornwell's strict Protestant upbringing informed the background of A Crowning Mercy, which took place during the English Civil War.) In 1987, he also published Redcoat, an American Revolutionary War novel set in Philadelphia during its 1777 occupation by the British.

After publishing eight books in his ongoing Sharpe series, Cornwell was approached by a production company interested in adapting them for television. The producers asked him to write a prequel to give them a starting point to the series. They also requested that the story feature a large role for Spanish characters to secure co-funding from Spain. The result was Sharpe’s Rifles, published in 1987, and a series of Sharpe television films staring Sean Bean.

A series of contemporary thrillers with sailing as a background and common themes followed: Wildtrack published in 1988, Sea Lord (aka Killer's Wake) in 1989, Crackdown in 1990, Stormchild in 1991, and Scoundrel, a political thriller, in 1992.

In June 2006, Cornwell was made an Officer of the Order of the British Empire in the Queen's 80th Birthday Honours List.

Cornwell's latest work, Azincourt, was released in the UK in October 2008. The protagonist is an archer who participates in the Battle of Agincourt, another devastating defeat suffered by the French in the Hundred Years War. However, Cornwell has stated that it will not be about Thomas of Hookton from The Grail Quest or any of his relatives.

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5 stars
367 (62%)
4 stars
174 (29%)
3 stars
41 (6%)
2 stars
3 (<1%)
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5 (<1%)
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
7 reviews
November 25, 2025
Sharpe just gets by better. This fast paced historical adventure story keeps you turning the pages as a retreating Sharpe is separated from Sir Henry Moore’s flight to La Coruna and inveigled and deceived into helping a Spanish nobleman in his crusade to turn the tide of Napoleon’s invasion. Set in Galicia and packed with the geographical and historical details that make the action all the more vivid and the tale informative as well as breathtakingly exciting. A boy’s adventure story for grownups.
35 reviews
January 23, 2023
Good fast paced read

Three in one it show Sharp in his mental struggle to become an officer at the same time he managed to fight the French a few times. Some great action which makes this a real page tuner.
Profile Image for Chris Paulin.
11 reviews
October 21, 2019
Three very action packed adventures.
The Trafalgar story is particularly good.
A very enjoyable compendium.
173 reviews
May 16, 2020
Excellent Collection

As usual these three books are superb.
Bernard Cornwall is the master of his art.
Each of the books are well researched and written
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews

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