Life at the Sharpe end
A new series about the Hundred Years’ war confirms Bernard Cornwell as one of Britain’s finest writers of historical fiction
BERNARD CORNWELL made his name with a brave, broad-chested young hero named Richard Sharpe. Sharpe joins Arthur Wellesley's Indian Army as a private in 1799. He has a hatred for the aristocracy, and manners that are none too smooth. But he eventually becomes an officer, and serves under Wellesley—later Duke of Wellington—through the Peninsular wars from the coast of Portugal, across Spain and into the heartland of France until Napoleon is vanquished at Waterloo. The 17 Sharpe novels have sold more than 4m copies in nine languages; the television series, starring Sean Bean, introduced thousands of new readers. Mr Cornwell has done for the Redcoats what C.S. Forester did for Captain Hornblower and the Royal Navy. And many people consider him to be the direct heir to Patrick O'Brian.
This article appeared in the Culture section of the print edition under the headline “Life at the Sharpe end”
From the September 30th 2000 edition
Discover stories from this section and more in the list of contents
Explore the editionMore from Culture
Why many French have come to like “Emily in Paris”
Even if they may not want to admit it
“The Perfect Couple” and the new map of Moneyland
Depictions of the super-rich on screen reflect the times
What should “inclusion” include at the Paralympics?
The games make a virtue of their diversity. But there’s still room to grow
The information wars are about to get worse, Yuval Noah Harari argues
The author of “Sapiens” is back with a timely new book about AI, fact and fiction
Arnold Schoenberg was one of classical music’s most important rebels
But, 150 years after his birth, he is underappreciated
Despots and oligarchs have many means to meddle in American politics
The extent of the foreign-influence industry may surprise you