The Richard Sharpe Series

I still remember reading my first Bernard Cornwell novel. There were about a hundred pages left in this medieval tale when the final, epic battle began. I was surprised that it started so early, and wondered what the rest of the book would be about once it had ended. As the pages turned, I then realized that the last one hundred pages were the battle.

That’s the thing about Cornwell. He can take something as huge and confusing as a battle and portray it in such a way that you easily understand everything that is occurring. It takes a lot of pages to do it, but you get the big picture as to what is going on and the strategy that is being employed, along with nitty-gritty, often-times horrific details about what it would be like to be in the middle of it all.

Cornwell has written a lot of books about a lot of different times, but I especially like the Sharpe Series. This takes place during the Napoleonic wars, in the early 1800s. It follows Richard Sharpe, who is an officer in the British army. He works his way up from a private to an officer, which was unheard of in that period. (Officers normally bought their ranks back then, they didn't earn them.)

The Sharpe Series consists of 21 novels, although I’ve only read 11 of them. When Cornwell began writing, Sharpe was already an officer, and Cornwell continued in a mostly chronological fashion through Sharpe’s career all the way through Waterloo. During this time Sharpe continued to rise through the ranks, and always found himself playing key roles in the many battles that occurred along the way.

That is what the first 11 books consist of, and they are the ones that I read. After that, Cornwell wrote additional books and slotted them before his first book, and in-between some of the later ones. I never read them, though, as I was satisfied with seeing what happened at Waterloo, and the one book that took place after that.

So, if you’re looking for a good read, start with Sharpe’s Eagle and go from there, in the order in which Cornwell wrote them. I don’t think you’ll be disappointed.