Sharpe Books In Order
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Chronological Order of Sharpe Books
Publication Order of Sharpe Non-Fiction Books
| Sharpe's Story | (2007) | Description / Buy at Amazon |
Bernard Cornwell born on 23rd February 1944 is from England. He is a famous author of many historical novels. Though he has written dozens of books, he is better remembered for his various Sharpe novels. He has written books on the American Civil War. The famous Sharpe (Series by Bernard Cornwell) delves around Richard Sharpe who was the Napoleonic Wars rifleman. His books have been well received and thousands of readers have expressed their appreciation about the way in which history has been represented in almost all of his books.
Early Life
He now lives in USA with his wife. He shuttles between Cape Cod, Charleston and Massachusetts. He is an adopted boy and was brought up in Thundersley, Essex. After the death of his adopted father, he changed his last name to Cornwell from Wiggins. He had a penchant for writing from his early age and in fact he started writing at an early age to support his living in the United States. In fact his wife also co-authored a number of novels with Cornwell and they were published under the pseudonym Susannah Kells. His success in the Sharpe series led to his being approached by a television production company. This resulted in the production and screening of the television serial Sharpe’s Rifles. We will have a look at some of the books written under the Sharpe Series. It surely will not be possible to list and talk about each and every one of them. We will look at a couple of them and find out why they are so very popular and well accepted by readers.
A Look At Sharpe Series
Sharpe perhaps could be rated as one of the finest historical fiction series. The main character is Richard Sharpe. It tracks the progress of the British Army during the infamous Napoleonic Wars. It traces the journey of Sharpe who joins as a private in the 33rd Regiment. He moves up the ladder and becomes a sergeant in the book Sharpe’s Tiger. After many twists and turns Richard Sharpe eventually becomes a Lieutenant Colonel in the book Sharpe’s Waterloo. All the stories penned under the Sharpe series talk about the various struggles he goes through for winning acceptance not only from his peers and fellow officers but also from the men who are under his command. He is often referred to as a brilliant soldier but at times wayward. At times he also is referred to as Loose Cannon. He seemingly had a superb skill as far as light troop management is concerned. He is often considered to be the biggest thorn in the flesh of enemy troops and he has proved his worth over and over again. Hence at the end of the day, there is no denying the fact that he is a highly colorful, talented and skilled soldier. Therefore looking at a few books of his would certainly be a great way to know about Sharpe
Sharpe’s Tiger
This is the first book in the Sharpe series and talks about this young, ambitious, loyal and hardened soldier from Yorkshire. It delves in length about the way in which Sharpe and his other soldiers survived an ambush from the French Cavalry. It also talks about how Sir Arthur Wellesley, the commander of the British Army leading the fight against the French in Portugal, saved from near death by Sharpe. In recognition of his service Sharpe is promoted as lieutenant and asked to command a chosen group of high quality and high caliber solider. The loan is supposed to come through James Rothschild belonging to the Rothschild family but he does not come on the scheduled date and time. Sharpe and his small team look for him but unfortunately other members of the team are ambushed by the French Cavalry and almost everybody is wiped out. From here the story goes through may twists and turns and leads to some interesting and gripping reading.
Sharpe’s Fortress
This book is about the life of Sharpe after he was rewarded for his gallant war in India. He fought the Maratha regiment ferociously. However, he is not exactly very happy with his new found recognition and he also gets embroiled in many controversies of his own making. He is doubted by his superiors of treason and this gets him shunted to Gwalior which is a tightly guarded fortress from which there is no escape. However, he comes out of it clean but has is task cut out. He has to attack this fortress with Sir Arthur Wellesley in command and this is not going to be an easy job. He is up against a very well armed, highly motivated and trained army. Sharpe realizes that this fight will test his skills, reputation and honor to the hilt. Will he come out with flying colors or will his reputation be damaged beyond repair? It certainly is worth finding out.
Books Which Have Been Made Into TV Serials
Many of Sharpe’s books have been made into TV serials and Sharpe’s Challenge is one such book. It usually was shown in two different parts. The script for the TV serial has been written by Russell Lewis and the serial has been directed by Tom Clegg. It has a number of repute stars in it including the likes of Sean Bean, Daragh O’Mailey, Lucy Brown and Padma Lakshmi. The entire story line and screenplay has been completed taken from Bernard Cornwell’s original novel Sharpe’s Challenge. Though the serial has been well produced and it has been well accepted by viewers, there are some historical omissions and inaccuracies which stand out quite clearly. Nonetheless there is no doubt that it is one of the better known TV serials under the Sharpe series and has found very good acceptance even from critics and also has got impressive reviews.
Conclusion
At the end of the day, there is no doubt that when it comes to representation of various historical events whether they are in France, India and other parts of the commonwealth group of nations, Bernard Cornwell has certainly been able to make a big impact amongst thousands of readers who have an interest in history and would like to learn more about it from a different perspective.
Book Series In Order » Characters »
Any issues with the book list you are seeing? Or is there an author or series we don’t have? Let me know!
I do hope there is some reference to Sharpe’s daughter in this latest book – have often wondered if Bernard Cornwell will update us on her life.
As it is a story of a man’s life, surely it is best to read it in chronological order. This way you don’t get references to events you are not aware of having happened.
I started reading the Sharpe books a couple of years ago (read eight or nine by now). The paperbacks are perfect for a week’s vacation (easy to carry and generally 300 pages). Richard Sharpe was my guy from the first page of the first book. Learning history while following the adventures of Sharpe is extremely interesting and uplifting to this American of English descent.
Disappointed that I cannot find anyone give an opinion about the best way to read this series. Easy to find lists of publication dates and chronological order.
My own opinion is to always read in the manner in which the author initially published the books. Often they did that for a reason etc and the impact the books have in chronological order may not be the same.
I always try to read a series in chronological order. The authors don’t always plan on writing a certain number of books and often there are spoilers in earlier books for things that you may not want to know about the character later in his career.