Sharpe's Company

This maybe my favourite Sharpe novel so far. The return of his arch emeny Obadiah Hakeswill, love, an impossible task and hurt pride, Sharpe has his biggest challenge for some time. This was such a page turner I finished it in 3 days.... impossible to put down

Not so sharpe (0/1 people found this helpful)

I found this novel disjointed and out of keeping with the Sharpe of the previous novels. The plot was not one of the best that Cornwell has managed, and the character of hakeswill was a totaly different person from the Hakeswill of India. All in all a disappointment, I found Sharpe incompetent and dithering and Harper having a bad novel. Still its only a book, just not a very good one. Cornwell, could and has done better.

Exciting account of 2 great sieges (1/1 people found this helpful)

In the winter of 1812 Wellington is set on capturing the 2 great fortress-cities that guard the border between Portugal and Spain. The novel begins with the siege of Ciudad Rodrigo and ends with the siege of Badajoz, and in themselves these provide plenty of action and battle-scenes for the British Peninsular army and Sharpe, but inbetween Sharpe also risks losing the command of his company, and finds himself confronted with his arch-enemy Sergeant Hakeswill again...

In a nutshell: another great addition to the series, with Sharpe and his trusted companion Harper in the thick of action!

Sheer class! (8/8 people found this helpful)

I have only read five Sharpe books but I have to say by far this book is the best I have read, it will be very hard to top this story. It is based on the dramatic events of Badajoz, the seemingly impregnable fort in Spain held by the French. Sharpe has problems of his own, let alone facing the fort he has lost command of his South Essex light company to a rich man, a daughter and wife to-be to protect, and his old enemy, the twiching, maddened and seemingly indestructable Sgt. Hakeswill to deal with. The book is a master piece and I challenge anyone who has read the book to say it isn't.

Sharpe (aided by Wellington) captures the "Keys of Spain." (17/17 people found this helpful)

I have stayed in and explored both Cuidad Rodrigo and Badajoz - altough technically/historically, in the wrong order. I had read "Sharpe's Company" before visiting these fine places, and once again I must say that Bernard Cornwell and his friend Richard Sharpe provided me with a first class insight into the events which culminated in Wellington's capture of these vital fortress towns. What comes across best is the sheer size and apparent impossibility of the task - standing outside the walls, your money would always be on the defenders. Back to the novel though. Leaving aside the historical accuracy of "Company," borne of Mr. Cornwell's meticulate research, what the reader cannot fail to appreciate is the absolute terror of siege warfare in the Napoleonic age. Here we learn about two of Wellington's most important successes of the Peninsular War, both coming in 1812. Followed in the Summer by his brilliant victory at Salamanca, that year was truly the turning point of Napoleon's fortunes in Europe. (Things didn't go particularly well in the East either). The sub-plot finds our old friend Sgt.Obadiah Hakeswill returning to make Sharpe's life a misery. This time he avoids death in the bloody breaches at Badajoz by feigning death, and once inside the walls he finds and attempts to rape Sharpe's wife, killing one of our hero's friends in the process. Sharpe arrives in the nick of time, but Hakeswill escapes, and although we know he will meet his maker eventually, I personally feel that this would have been the opportune moment for Sharpe's ultimate revenge. "Battle," "Company," and "Sword" are, for me at least, the most entertaining and historicaly enlightning of the series. Coming, as they do, consecutively in chronological order, they make for the ultimate Sharpe trilogy, and I would recommend the Sharpe/Peninsula enthusiast to take time out to read all three one after the other. Clive Witcomb. Birmingham, England. January 2000.

Bernard Cornwell

Reader Reviews:

Enemies on both sides (0/0 people found this helpful)

Not so sharpe (0/1 people found this helpful)

Exciting account of 2 great sieges (1/1 people found this helpful)

Sheer class! (8/8 people found this helpful)

Sharpe (aided by Wellington) captures the "Keys of Spain." (17/17 people found this helpful)

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