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Sharpes Rifles
Portugal 1809
Daragh (Harper) describes this episode as a male love story. Sharpe might be
officially after the army’s pay, and tricked into helping the Spanish
whip up a small rebellion, but his real mission in this story, as given
to him by his dying Captain, is to get Patrick Harper on his side, for
without Harper’s support, Sharpe will never be able to lead the men
effectively. Throughout the adventure, Sharpe must woo and win both
Patrick Harper, and the dangerous Spanish
assassin, Teresa.
On the way Teresa teaches Sharpe about leadership, listening, and earning respect, Harper teaches Sharpe about the ways of politics and Sharpe teaches Teresa to trust and love again. Oh, and he helps the Spaniards to fly their old flag from the Crusades, just to annoy the French.
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Sharpe’s Eagle
Spain 1809
Sharpe can’t afford another promotion, so he’s going to have to get it
the same way he got his last one, by being stupidly but dashing brave
and heroic in the face of incredible odds. This impossible feat offers
itself in the form of an unspoken promise to a dying Major Lennox, to
get a French Eagle to try and dilute the shame of the South Essex losing
the King’s colours (thanks to Simmerson and his bungling cowardice). So,
pausing only to rescue a damsel in distress, off he goes. Does he succeed?
Does he what.
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Sharpe’s Company
Spain 1812
Sharpe’s patron and Colonel, Lawford, has been carried from the field,
wounded. Sharpe’s promotion has been refused and Teresa has just dumped
the news on him that his newborn daughter is in the very town the army
intends to lay siege to next. Can it possibly get any worse for our hero?
Yes, it can, for into this pit of misery arrives Sharpe’s worst nightmare,
his nemesis from India, the one, the only, the unspeakably evil Sergeant
Hakeswill. Hakeswill proceeds to make Sharpe’s life a living hell
by attempting to rape Teresa, setting up Harper on a flogging charge and
rubbing in the fact that Sharpe has lost command of the Light Company. One
of the more touching scenes is when Sharpe sits up with Patrick before his
flogging.
Hakeswill has promised to rape and kill Teresa once inside Badajoz, and Sharpe is desperate to lead the Forlorn Hope through the breach, to get into the town first and protect Teresa, and to regain his promotion again by a desperate and heroic deed. Sharpe is denied his opportunity but the siege goes so badly Sharpe soon finds himself in the front line at last and, hurling himself through the breach and over bodies he manages to claw his way into the town just in time to save Teresa and his baby daughter Antonia. Not in time to save his friend Harry Price though, but not to worry, he gets better.
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Sharpe’s Enemy
Portugal 1813
The return of Hakeswill. Hakeswill and his gang of marauding deserters
have taken over a strategically important village on the Spanish-Portuguese
border, capturing with it the wives of a French officer and an English
officer, whom he decides to ransom. Sharpe, spared the blood and pain of
trying to top Badajoz for his next promotion by being made up to a Brevet
Major by the Prince Regent, who has become a fan of his exploits, is
nominated to deliver the ransom. After snatching a few brief romantic
moments with Teresa, Sharpe and his merry men are off to the deserter’s
lair. Going in alone, Sharpe and Harper are forced to fight Colonel
Dubreton and his Sergeant, who are there for the same reason. Hakeswill
shows off the girls, forcing Lady Farthingdale to strip in a shameless
bit of T & A, before deciding the ransom isn’t enough.
Sharpe returns, this time with a troop of rocketeers in tow, and sneaks into the convent where the women are being held, helped by Kelly ho has decided that raping and pillaging doesn’t agree with him. Sharpe and Lady Farthingdale renew their old relationship, although this time it appears she offers him a freebie, as they while away the hours waiting for the dawn attack.
Frederickson and his own motley band of Rifles arrive and help subdue the deserters. In the chaos Hakeswill escapes, and given a choice between killing Sharpe’s wife or Sharpe’s bit on the side, he chooses the wife and shoots Teresa. Poor Sharpe cannot articulate his grief at losing his wife. Meanwhile the French decide to get into the action. Sharpe buries Teresa then bluffs out the French into a panicked retreat by pretending the woefully incompetent Rocket troop are a crack calvary and artillery unit. Sharpe then sadly places his daughter with her relatives to be raised and never sees her again.
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Sharpe’s Honour
Spain 1813
Sharpe is still brooding over the loss of Teresa and is easily goaded into
fighting a duel with a Spanish nobleman who claims Sharpe made moves on
his wife. After a duel where Sharpe gives up trying to fight fancy and
fights dirty, the Marquese is found murdered, and Sharpe is the prime
suspect. Sharpe is tried, condemned and hanged. End of series? Not yet,
because old clever clogs Wellington has faked Sharpe’s death and now
Sharpe, aka the man with no name, is sent by spymaster Nairn to find out
just what the heck is going on. Sharpe finds the Marquesa in a nunnery
and liberates her, beating off nuns with a chicken, and found she was
put there by a gang of guerillas in cahoots with a priest from the
Spanish Inquisition, Father Hacha, and all this has been set in motion
by Ducos, who is still cranky over Sharpe breaking his glasses last
episode. Sharpe manages to get all of this information out of the
Marquesa the only way he knows how - by just lying there, bleeding
slightly and looking gorgeous.
While Harper escorts the Marquesa into the trees, Sharpe is caught
napping by the French (poor lad was up all night), and finds himself
frogmarched back to the very fort where Ducos is. Dragged in bound,
Ducos decides to get is own back by spitefully breaking the telescope
Wellington had given Sharpe as a present (for saving his life back in
Rifles). In the meantime Harper has run
back to camp to find out he’s
a dad and to rouse up the chosen men for a rescue, whirling past a
slightly dazed Ramona. The boys arrive in time to coincide with Sharpe’s
brutal and bloody escape. They blow up the fort and manage to lead the
last charge at Vitoria, snaffling up the jewels and rescuing the Marquesa,
who expresses her gratitude to Sharpe by presenting him with a new
telescope and a kiss on the cheek.
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Sharpe’s Gold
Spain Summer 1813
Sharpe does Indiana Jones. The less said about this episode the better.
It starts out okay with some lovely scenes in the camp, but then it just
gets plain silly.
| CAST | |
| Sharpe: | Sean Bean |
| Harper | Daragh O'Malley |
| Wellington: | Hugh Fraser |
| Mungo Munro: | Hugh Ross |
| Bess Nugent: | Rosaleen Linehan |
| Ellie Nugent: | Jayne Ashbourne |
| Will Nugent: | Peter Eyre |
| El Casco: | Abel Folk |
| Provost Marshall: | Philip McGough |
| Ayres: | Ian Shaw |
| Hagman: | John Tams |
| Cooper: | Michael Mears |
| Harris: | Jason Salkey |
| Perkins: | Lyndon Davies |
| Barbier | Julian Sims |
| Ramona: | Diana Perez |
| Skillicorn | Philip Dowd |
| Rodd: | Peter-Hugo Daly |
| Tripper: | Nicholas McGaughey |
| Donkin: | Jake Abraham |
| Bewley: | Jonathan McGuinness |
Sharpe’s Battle
Spain September 1813
Sharpe gets stuck with the Irish Palace Guard of the King of Spain, and
Wellington sticks them on the frontier, hoping the French will rid him of
the problem. The frontier just happens to be the hunting ground of a
lawless French officer called Loup who takes his wolf motif a little too
much to heart and has issues with Sharpe over a previous run in. So poor
Sharpe has the Irish deserting, and being stirred up by anti British
propaganda that even threatens to turn Patrick from Sharpe’s side, and
Loup prowling the hillsides.
Sharpe also has an unpleasant domestic situation where the Irish commander his having an open fling with the leader of the local partisan’s. Kiely’s wife pleads with Sharpe to help, but he turns down her offer of payment, thus making her only one of two women Sharpe has ever said no to. Loup attacks, Keily’s wife is captured, the Irish turn traitor. Sharpe has to battle Keily in a fantastic duel and the turncoat Irish. Fortunately Keily takes care of the partisan, Dona Juanita de Elia, for Sharpe.
Alas, wee Perkins, who has never been happier having found his first love, is killed in an overwrought death scene, causing Harper to walk out of the abandoned church with bloody vengeance on his mind. He takes care of the Irish while Sharpe takes care of the French. Keily is killed trying to save his wife and the story ends with Sharpe seeing the newly widowed Lady Keily on her way.
| CAST | |
| Sharpe: | Sean Bean |
| Harper: | Daragh O'Malley |
| Wellington: | Hugh Fraser |
| Mungo Munro: | Hugh Ross |
| Lord Kiely: | Jason Durr |
| Lady Kiely: | Allie Byrne |
| Runciman: | Ian McNeice |
| Loup: | Oliver Cotton |
| Juanita: | Siri Neal |
| Hagman: | John Tams |
| Harris: | Jason Salkey |
| Perkins: | Lyndon Davies |
| O'Rourke: | Liam Carney |
| Donaju: | Phelim Drew |
| Ramona: | Diana Perez |
| Jenkins: | Robert Hands |
| Miranda: | Maria Petrucci |
Sharpe’s Sword
Franco-Spanish Frontier 1813
This is the story with Jack Spears. Jack is a brash and dashing rogue and
the first real friend amongst the officers Sharpe actually makes. Harper
meanwhile is stomping about, distracted by domestic disharmony with Ramona.
Sharpe is meant to be after the master French spy Leroux, whom he
believes he has already captured, but a short court of enquiry and an
Academy Award winning performance on the part of the French officer manage to persuade Sharpe’s Colonel otherwise.
At VillaFranca Simmerson shows up, declaring the French fort to be free of cannon. The French immediately lob one of the allegedly non existent cannon balls at the troops and allow Leroux to escape into the French fort. Sharpe decides on a night attack but it’s a terrible mess and Sharpe is left for dead on the battlefield in the retreat.
The next day Patrick searches desperately for Sharpe while Jack rides off to fetch cannon. Harper et al find Sharpe in the dying room, and is told by Father Curtis that nothing can be done. Worse, he is not allowed to nurse Sharpe, Curtis feeling the attentions of the mute nun Sharpe has rescued might be more effective. The nun and Romana stitch up Sharpe’s wounds while Harper forges Sharpe a new sword to replace the one that was broken.
In the meantime, Harris is working his way through every book in the library to find the source of the French code.
Sharpe recovers from his very near fatal wounds and fever, and thanks the nun in a superhuman feat of endurance, and without ripping open his stitches. Lined up like three wise men, Harper presents Sharpe with the sword he’s made, Hagman gives him some of the old brown paper and paraffin oil, and Harris gives him the name of the traitor. Sharpe’s world is rocked. It’s Jack. Sharpe really should have known the traitor would have been the one armed man. In a near tearful confrontation, Jack reveals that he gave in under torture, and declares that could betray his country, but never his friend, Sharpe. Sharpe is in a quandary. An officer would shoot Jack. A gentleman would let Jack shoot himself. Sharpe decides to led Jack to be his very own one man Forlon Hope and lead a suicide charge into the Fort, and let the French shoot Jack. Led on by Jack’s sacrifice, the Brits take the fort and Sharpe calls out Leroux for a duel. Bloody and beaten, and now in definite danger of busting open his stiches, Sharpe manages to stick Leroux with his new sword. He sends the nun back to the church, as promised in exchange for Harper’s quickie wedding to Ramona, and hobbles off into the sunset.
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Sharpe’s Regiment
England June 1813
Sharpe’s political enemies have decided to dispense with his services on
paper, forcing Sharpe to return to England to save the Regiment (and his
command). Upon being presented to the Prince Regent, and taking a tumble
with Lady Anne, he learns his recruits exist but are lost in the paperwork.
Lord Fenner, the head fink, sends out to hired thugs to kill Sharpe.
Sharpe, with a little help from his old neighbourhood, lets Fenner
think his men have done the deed and re enlists, with Harper in tow, in
the South Essex as a private. Harper takes the opportunity to tease
Sharpe about his weakness for women, especially when the niece of the
evil Simmerson (in cahoots with Fenner) swings into view. Sharpe finds
out Simmerson is selling the recruits to the highest bidder, but his
escape is prempted by the sadistic Colonel deciding to hunt down Harper
for sport. The two men escape across the marshes, but not before Sharpe
manages a rendezvous with Jane Gibbons.
Sharpe fetches the recruits before they can be disappeared and decides to march on London and confront Fenner with the evidence. Fenner meanwhile is desperate to destroy the books that Sharpe has sent Jane after. Jane fails but Lady Anne saves the books, Sharpe and his Regiment. Sharpe decides to save Jane from Simmerson by proposing to her.
Back in France, Sharpe and his new men decide to take it to the French.
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Sharpe’s Siege
France Winter 1813
Sharpe marries Jane, but the day he is due to leave on a mission she is
taken with fever. They are told to capture the Teste de Buch fort and
raise a rebellion, but Sharpe finds the locals all loyal to Napoleon.
They’ve been tricked by the slimy French nobleman and abandoned in enemy
territory. Sharpe has to defend the fort with a handful of men, no cannon
and precious little powder, all the while fretting over Jane. They end up
driving off the French with lime, an idea by the lady of the house, who
has generously overlooked Sharpe’s refusal of her charms.
Sharpe returns to find that his whole mission was a diversion, and his wife cured.
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Sharpe’s Mission
Pyrenes 1813
Sharpe is given an opportunity to go rollicking through the French
countryside with his hero, Colonel Brand. But Brand is a bad sort who
murders innocent gypsies and is in league with the French, luring Sharpe
and Ross into a trap. On the homefront, Harris, accused to the gypsy
killings, is posted to guard Jane, who is being indiscrete with a soppy
would be poet who has been sent to cover the war.
Sharpe and Harper manage to take their revenge on Brand and his cronies and blow up the French ammo dump after all, while Harris sees off Jane’s suitor.
| CAST | |
| Sharpe: | Sean Bean |
| Harper: | Daragh O'Malley |
| Jane Gibbons: | Abigail Cruttenden |
| Ross: | James Laurenson |
| Wellington: | Hugh Fraser |
| Brand: | Mark Strong |
| Pope: | Andrew Schofield |
| Pyecroft: | Nigel Betts |
| Shellington | Warren Saire |
Sharpe’s Revenge
France April 1814
Sharpe, fearing his luck may have run out on the eve of his last battle,
makes out his last will and testament, leaving all his money to Jane.
Sharpe manages to survive the battle, sending off Ducos and a horde of
Frenchmen, only to be challenged to a duel by Colonel Wigram, who feels
slighted that Sharpe has proven himself the better soldier.
Meanwhile, Jane’s leech of a friend, Lady Molly Spindacre, has convinced her to take the money and run, which she does, straight to London and into the arms of Lord Rossendale (who has these gambling debts, you know).
Sharpe would follow her only he’s being held for the murder of French officers and the theft of Napoleon’s treasure. The court hearing is not going well as the officer presiding is sitting on a bullet riddled backside thanks to Sharpe.
Harper engineers an escape and they set off to Normandy to find the only witness, who has just been offed by Ducos, covering his tracks and framing Sharpe for that murder, too. Sharpe sends Harper off to get a message to Jane, while he and Frederickson arrive at the Maillot farm, only to be greeted with a shotgun. Sharpe is wounded and has to be nursed back to health while Frederickson goes to Paris to find Ducos, which he does.
Frederickson is shocked to discover Sharpe and Lucille have become lovers in his absence (like, really), as he was quite keen on Lucille. Nevertheless, with Colonel Calvet tagging along, they all troop off after Ducos who has holed up in Naples with his loot. Ducos holds them off and gets some reinforcements, but Sharpe manages to disperse the ranks with a cannon powered shower of gold and sneak off with as much of the treasure as they can carry. He takes a pot shot at Ducos, who is last seen being dragged off by his horse. But Sharpe has other fish to fry and so it’s off to England.
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Sharpe’s Justice
South Yorkshire Summer 1814
Sharpe ends up assigned to the backwaters of Yorkshire, and ever faithful
Harper goes with him. Once in Yorkshire they meet up with the local
yeomanry, and effete bunch who sat out the war practicing their fencing
skills, Daniel Hagman in search of work and Matt Truman, the leader of the
revolution and Sharpe’s half brother, as it turns out. And like any
family reunion, they spent most of their time taking swings at each
other. Lady Anne shows up to advise Sharpe of the political machinations
against him, again for her usual price. She also tells Sharpe Jane is in
the neighbourhood. Sharpe rides off to demand his money.
The mill barons plot to rid themselves of Sharpe, their competitors and Truman in one fell swoop. Truman is killed, Sharpe, now on the wrong side of the law, ambushes the ambush, though the steam engine he’s meant to be protecting bounces away down the hill. The dastardly yeomen are arrested and, at the funeral of the only blood relative Sharpe had, Jane shows up, tells him he belongs in the gutter and threatens him if he does not leave her to enjoy his money in peace. Poor Sharpe just gives up and goes.
| CAST | |
| Sharpe: | Sean Bean |
| Harper: | Daragh O'Malley |
| Jane Sharpe: | Abigail Cruttenden |
| Lady Anne Camoynes: | Caroline Langrishe |
| Truman: | Philip Glenister |
| Hagman: | John Tams |
| Wickham: | Douglas Henshall |
| Rossendale: | Alexis Denisof |
| Parfitt: | Tony Haygarth |
| Sally Bunting: | Karen Meagher |
| Stanwyck: | Philip Anthony |
| Saunders: | Philip Martin Brown |
| Fosdyke: | Sean O'Kane |
| Whitbread: | Henry Moxon |
| Mrs. Trent: | Rita May |
| Arnold: | Richard Bremmer |
| Horse Guards Clerk: | Tony Aitken |
| Sam West: | Nick Conway |
Sharpe’s Waterloo
Brussels June 1815
Sharpe is back on the farm with Lucille, and looking much happier, when
news of Napoleon’s escape reaches him. Lucille is upset because Sharpe has
promised never to fight again (when will that boy learn), but reluctantly
follows him as he picks up his rifle to Brussels.
Rossendale and Jane, also in Brussells, are unhappy to learn Sharpe has been made a Liuetenant Colonel on the Prince of Orange’s staff. Jane decides that the only way she’ll be free is by asking Rossendale to kill Sharpe during battle.
The French are pretty keen on killing Sharpe too, and after warm welcomes for Hagman and Harris, made up to Sergeants on the spur of the moment, and a huge hug for Patrick, Sharpe is off to try and stop the French at Quatre Bras, but the Dutch line doesn’t hold.
Sharpe shows up to the ball with the grim news covered in blood and powder. Instructed to leave via the back door by Wellington, Sharpe runs into Rossendale. A chase through the ball ensures, but Rossendale wets himself rather than engage Sharpe in a duel. Sharpe demands his money and stalks off.
He tells Lucille she is far more beautiful than Jane, that she is his one true love, and bids her farewell. He walks away to battle, with Patrick, even though he hasn’t re-enlisted, by his side. A miraculously resurrected post plastic surgery Harry Price also makes an appearance.
The battle ensues and thanks to Silly Billy’s outstanding incompetence, most of the South Essex, including our beloved Harris and Hagman, are wiped out. Sharpe tells The Prince to get fucked and, after a half arsed attempt at regicide, rides off to march at the front of his regiment, the South Essex, into battle. Harper, having finally seen Napoleon upon his horse in the distance, bids Sharpe farewell as Sharpe marches on, and off our screens!
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Sharpe The Legend
A collection of good bits narrated by Cooper, last seen nursing a shoulder
wound in Sharpe’s Gold.
Sharpe’s Tiger
Mysore India 1799
Bill and Dick’s excellent adventure. Okay, seriously, this is the long
promised and extremely revisionist visit to Sharpe’s youth as a young,
bored and cocky Private in His Majesty’s Army in India. Sharpe is a
redcoat in the 33rd, thinking of desertion, if Sergeant Hakeswill doesn’t
kill him first.
The story opens with Hakeswill desperately trying to get
Sharpe up on a charge, but failing to do so due to the interference of
Sharpe’s friend Tom Garrard and his supporters amongst the officers,
Ensign Fiztgerald and Lieutenant Lawford. The fact that Lawford is always
watching out for Sharpe causes Hakeswill to accuse Sharpe of being
Lawford’s “lily boy”, and Sharpe hits him. Sharpe is then sentenced to a
thousand lashes, but is spared after 202 because Lawford won’t go on the
secret mission he’s been picked for without Sharpe. This is a sensible
move on Lawford’s part because the street smart Sharpe manages to keep
them alive as the mission lurches from one disaster to another as the
lads are caught, tortured, freed, betrayed, captured, tortured again until
Sharpe finally breaks out of the dungeons, kills his tiger, saves the
British Army, kills the Tippoo and steals his ruby. All in a day’s work,
really.
Sharpe’s Triumph
Assaye India 1803
Sort of the British Raj version of Room With A View, where Sharpe is chaperoned by the elderly and cantankerous Colonel McCandless around India in search of a traitor. Fighting the odd fight and bedding the obligatory female accessory, Sharpe rambles through the story with no real threats or problems as money and patronage protect him from anything Hakeswill or anyone else can through at him. Sharpe finds himself in the enemy camp, and is tempted by an offer to desert and make officer. Only when Sharpe buys McCandless a horse does the miserable auld bugger realises that Sharpe has a secret stash and might be able to make it as an officer in the British Army, though not as easily.
Sharpe finds himself in the role of errand boy at the battle of Assaye, but when Wellesley is unhorsed it is Sharpe, with his trusty Sheffield blade, who saves the day. Wellesley is impressed and, prompted by McCandless, makes Sharpe up to Ensign. Alas, Sharpe loses McCandless as a patron for moments later McCandless is blown away by Hakeswill, peeved that McCandless has spoiled his plot to get even with Sharpe.
Sharpe’s Rifles
French Invasion of Galacia 1809
As with most of the novels, any similarity between the books and the films
is purely coincidental. In rifles, it is Louisa Parker, the niece of the
missionaries who takes Sharpe’s fancy but ends up instead married to Major
Blas Vivar. There is no Army money lost. This is set after the retreat to
Corunna. Sharpe and what’s left of his unit are cut off and after some
awkward democratic moments, decide to travel south to Portugal. On the way
they meet up with Vivar and his partisans and the three Methodist
Missionaries, all the while being pursued by the French.
They end up taking the city of Santiagio, hoisting the flag for a few hours, but lose it when the French patrols arrive. In a final battle against the Chasseur, Sharpe goes mano a mano to get the one thing he really wanted, a new pair of trousers and some boots.
Sharpe’s Eagle
Talavera Campaign 1809
The Eagle isn’t the only thing Sharpe’s after in this one. He’s fixated on
Josefina, an expensive Portuguese lady whom he rescues from
Christian
Gibbons, evil brother of the wicked Jane. Christian can’t quite forgive
this slight, so after Sharpe finally gets the Eagle, with Patrick’s help,
Christian nearly kills Sharpe before Patrick dispatches the blaggard.
Sharpe is a bit peevish because Pat was off looking at his birds and a bit
late in the rescue department. Patrick’s ongoing interest in orthnithology
is never touched on in the films. Nor is it mentioned that Sharpe picks up
a locket from Gibbon’s body and carries the image of Jane with him through
many battles, long before he meets her. It’s interesting because it
suggests Sharpe fell in love with a painting, an ideal, and never saw
the real Jane. If he had, he’d had never let her within twenty feet of
his money.
Sharpe’s Gold
Destruction of Almeida 1810
This book is so excellent, and film is so awful, it’s almost a tragedy.
This is the one where Sharpe meets Teresa Moreno, the daughter of a
partisan, Cesar Moreno, promised to a vicious Partisan leader,
El Catolico (sort of a clan marriage type deal). Sharpe is after the
Spanish Gold because the Army needs it, but the Partisans are also after
it. El Catolico doesn’t take kindly to Sharpe chasing after his gold or
his woman (but never mind, there is such a thing as Karma). The Partisans
hold the village. Sharpe manages to take the village and find the gold.
They hide up in the hills where Teresa distracts the pursuing Spaniards.
It’s a race to the relative shelter of Almeida, Sharpe and his men being
pursued by the Spanish and the French. Sharpe is shot and faints in
Patrick’s arms. He finds himself in Almeida, with the Partisans, and
surrounded by the French. Also inside Almeida are Portuguese troops led
by Sharpe’s friend from India, Tom Garrad, now also a Captain in the
Portuguese Army. Sharpe and the Partisans dance around each other until
Sharpe decides to blow all the gunpowder in the fort and sneak out in the
confusion, even if it means blowing men like his friend Tom to Kingdom
Come.
This book features a lively, playful Sharpe, especially the way he and Lawford bicker publicly in the beginning, to applause from the audience, no less. Lossow, Sharpe’s stalwart German friend, Lossow, is also on hand to help save the day. Harris’ fictional counterpart (a scholarly rifleman aka Isiah Tongue) bites the big one in this book.
Sharpe’s Battle
Battle of Fuentes de Onoro 1811
This was written during the making of the series, so it reads more like
an adaptation of an episode. It’s dedicated to Sean Bean and the influence
really shows. Featured for the first time are all the TV Chosen Men;
Harris, Perkins,
Cooper as well as Hagman who was originally in the books.
Harris, Cooper and Perkins are all based on minor characters who all died
well before the final chapter. One really important thing: Perkins doesn’t
die in the book!
Like Waterloo, it’s helpful to read this one to figure out all the politics that are going on. The book also doesn’t bother with the stupid wife subplot. Keily commits suicide over his complicity in the plot, his lover,Juanita, tries working her way up through the chosen men with her eye on Sharpe, and a priest, Father Sarsfield, never featured in the film, turns out to be the mastermind and Sharpe is summoned by Hogan to get rid of the priest in a real Callan style execution. Wellington and Hogan are shown to be incredibly ruthless men, certainly willing to risk Sharpe if it means getting rid of a whole barrel of bad apples.
Sharpe meanwhile must be taught a lesson on the rules of war. He executed Loup’s men and set off a grudge match, causing the loss of a lot of good men, including his once best friend Tom Garrard who dies setting off an explosion which sends the French scampering and saves Sharpe’s life. Sharpe finds the body of his friend, still clutching the metal tinder box they’d gotten back in India. Sharpe holds the ruin of the tinder box for a moment and actually cries. Fortunately for Sharpe, all the witnesses who could have testified against him for this balls up die due to their own hand or others, but Sharpe must still prove himself by winning the battle and being recklessly heroic.
Sharpe’s Company
Siege of Badajoz 1812
The film actually sticks fairly close to the plot of the book. Missing from the film is the initial
siege at Ciudad Rodrigo where Lawford loses and arm and Sharpe actually
spends quite a bit of time fretting about that, and not just the loss
of a patron, either. There are a lot of lovely scenes with Harry Price,
who doesn’t die and in fact features quite prominently in Regiment and
Waterloo.
Sharpe’s Sword
Salamanca Campaign 1812
This book is a happily nun free zone. Instead, we get the first appearance
of the lovely but untrustworthy La Marquesa de Casares el Grande y Melida
Salaba as well as the lovable Jack Spears. There are so many lovely scenes
in this. Where Harper searches for Sharpe alone and finally finds him,
where Sharpe listens to Jack’s confession and administers the final bullet
and the party Jack drags Sharpe to. In this version, it is the Marquesa
who nurses Sharpe back to health.
Like in Eagle, Sharpe has two obsessions he lusts after, the Klingenthal sword and the Marquesa. But in the end he chooses the sword Patrick made with love, and he chooses his wife, T eresa.
Sharpe’s Enemy
Defence of Portugal 1812
The book features the return of Josefina from
Eagle, now hired for the duration by an
elderly Colonel, Sir Augustus Farthingdale, to pose as his wife.
Sharpe’s battles are much bigger and more complex than the film. First
he must take the convent, then the tower, then the village, round up all
the prisoners and hold out against the French until reinforcements can
arrive (Sharpe has just realised the French mean to push through this
mountain pass into Portugal).
Josefina does her best to tempt Sharpe to renew her acquaintance, and perhaps might have succeeded had not Teresa shown up while Josefina was feeding Sharpe from her own fork. Teresa gently but firmly warns Sharpe off any thought of infidelity, though Sharpe has already had an affair with Helene in Sword.
Hakeswill, captured in the dungeon, curses Sharpe, a curse which almost paralyses him with fear because Sharpe is especially superstitious in the books. Hours later, Hakeswill makes good his threat by escaping and killing Teresa. Sharpe kneels in the snow, just holding her, then destroys the rifleman doll Teresa had made for their daughter, feeling he is not worthy of it.
Back in camp, Sharpe resists all Hogan’s attempts to cheer him. When Hakeswill is executed by firing squad, it is Sharpe who administers the final bullet, which is a much more satisfying ending.
Sharpe’s Honour
Vitoria Campaign 1813
The story starts with a wonderful verbal joust with Harper over tents and
a magnificent bluff where Sharpe manages to convince a French battalion
into surrender with no ammunition, his supplies having fallen into the
river as they were crossing.
Sharpe is grieving hard and some sort of a death wish leads him to accept the duel with the Marquess. D’Alembord attempts to teach Sharpe the niceties of fencing before the duel, without any success.
The plot then sort of follows the film except it is Frederickson, not Harper who accompanies Sharpe on his mission to find the Marquesa. Poor Harper is left alone to mourn his Sharpe, which I thought was cruel. Sharpe is also accompanied by a young Partisan named Angel. Sharpe’s reunion with Helene is probably the sexiest in the whole series, especially the flea chasing scene, all of which occurs cosily indoors.
When Sharpe is captured by the French he is first beaten up by Ducos, then Helene’s Colonel Verigny tries to apologise by inviting Sharpe to dinner, where copious amounts of alcohol are consumed. But still Sharpe will not sign parole or promise not to escape. Seriously hung over the next morning, Sharpe observes the accidental igniting of the powder magazine and manages to escape with his life into the confusion.
Running around the French and the Partisans and the locals he manages to get back to the front lines in time to lead the South Essex to victory. The Marquesa’s wagons overturn in the confusion. Sharpe is obsessed with rescuing the Marquesa so Harper looks out for him in the loot gathering department, thus providing Sharpe his fortune.
Sharpe’s Regiment
Invasion of France 1813
Basically the same plot as the film, with more political intrigue. Sharpe
has a few more goes at Lady Anne than he does on TV, and Lawford is shown
to be not quite so ruthless. Yes, he is a political animal, but he still
cares for Sharpe and tries to make sure he can extricate Sharpe from his
mess as painlessly as possible. Lawford thinks giving Sharpe his own
Regiment is a good solution, and I was happy to see he hadn’t sold out
our boy completely. The motive of an ambitious wife, Jessica, was also
given, something Sharpe himself will learn about in the future.
Sharpe explains that he’s met Jane once before in 1809, an event neither
expanded in book or film, but his romance with her is equally rushed in
both formats. Poor Patrick nearly has a fit when he sees Jane show up
looking for Richard in London, as though they didn’t have enough problems.
Patrick thinks Jane will be trouble, and he’s right.
In the escape from the recruitment camp, it’s Harper on the horse, because Patrick has been riding since he was a kid and poor Sharpe, city kid that he is, can’t sit a horse to save his life.
There’s also a lot more juicy detail on Sharpe’s beginnings, too, when revisits his old neighbourhood, St Giles Rookery, and old friends in the London slum.
Sharpe’s Siege
Winter Campaign 1814
This is Sharpe’s seafaring adventure, so it differs quite a bit from the
film. Here we have Marines (not half as good as Sharpe’s men, though),
and the brash American pirate Cornelius Killick.
Sharpe arrives at Teste de Buch fort via a sea landing, and is stranded when most of the Marines take off again in their boats, mistakenly believing that Sharpe has perished on his mission to cause havoc on the French roads. Sharpe returns from his minor bit of bushwhacking to find the guns spiked and the magazine blown. He sees off two French attacks then manages to escape with help from Killick, who had owed Sharpe a favour for saving his life.
Poor Sharpe spends the whole book fretting about Jane, whom he believes is dying of fever. She’s doing nothing of the sort and it’s so tragic to see such emotion wasted on such a faithless wench.
The funniest part of the story is the pulling of poor Patrick’s tooth. And Harper wasn’t even supposed to be there, but he just couldn’t let Sharpe go away to fight without him. Sharpe pretends to be annoyed, but we know, with Harper, that he’s secretly pleased to have the company.
Sharpe’s Revenge
Peace of 1814
Poor Sharpe starts to suffer from shell shock and gets a terrible bout of
the jitters before the battle of Toulouse. In this shaky frame of mind
he foolishly leaves all his cash to Jane and promises her he’ll never
fight again. He doesn’t think he’ll survive the battle or have the right
stuff to ever stand in another one, but when he fights a duel after the
battle Jane decides he’s broken his word and forfeited his fortune.
The events that unfold are a direct sequel to Siege. Lassan, the French commander who lost his fort to Sharpe, is made to be the ‘witness’ to Sharpe stealing the treasure. Everyone thinks he’s buried it in the fort and Jane’s sudden spending spree in London, as well as the gift of the telescope from Helene in Honour, only cement his seeming guilt.
Patrick springs Sharpe and Frederickson, who travel on to Normandy to meet Lucille, who is waiting locked and loaded. Sharpe’s injuries are far worse in the book and he takes a long time to heal. Long enough for the stubborn bastard to learn French and finally woo Lucille, though we’re only told that she is carrying Sharpe’s child as an afterthought as Sharpe himself hares off down to Naples to take his revenge on Ducos ( who is paying for the protection of the Cardinal). Interesting plot point: in the books Sharpe and Harper name their first born sons after each other.
Sharpe returns the gold and clears his name, but he still has the mess with Jane to haunt him.
Sharpe’s Waterloo
Waterloo Campaign 1815
This is much better than the film. Sharpe, his lover Lucille and their
son, Henri Patrick Lassan, leave Normandy and hole up with the Harpers
until Sharpe is called up to fight. He has no choice. Sharpe was on a
half pay pension as a Lieutenant, the only rank the army would officially
grant him as holding. So in spite of misgivings he signs on as a
Lieutenant Colonel under the Prince of Orange, because he needs
the money to fix up Lucille’s farm. Harper follows Sharpe to Brussells,
telling Isabella (Ramona) that he’s only going to sell horses, but she
knows it is to be with “him”.
Lucille actually goes to the ball (Sharpe is secretly pleased that his
lover is titled), and there she sees Jane, and considers herself hardly
a match. After chasing Rossendale across the tables in the dining room,
Sharpe assures Lucille she is a better person than Jane will ever be.
Sharpe and Harper march off to battle, Harper promising that he’ll stay out of danger, but never leaves Sharpe’s side, because the view away from Sharpe is never quite as good, he explains. Sharpe by now is quite a legend on the battlefield, and has to listen as a tale of selling dead French as horsemeat to Portuguese is told, though Sharpe swears it isn’t true. Poor Hagman dies, after all these battles. Harry survives, in spite of tripping over a silly pair of spurs and D’Alembord is wounded, after fearing all night that he would die in battle, having been happily engaged that summer.
Sharpe and Harper come through with nary a scratch, Harper laughing at Sharpe’s terrible shot at Silly Billy in revenge for his atrocious leadership. Harper is despatched to tell Lucille that her man lives, and Sharpe, with his dog Nosey following faithfully behind, returns from the war.
Sharpe’s Ransom
Normandy, Christmas 1816
This short story, published in the Daily Mail, involves the return of
Challon and his cronies, still searching for
Ducos' treasure, still believing Sharpe must have
the gold, still out for a bit of revenge after the war.
Sharpe is feeling very alienated, still the hated enemy in the Norman village, but for Lucille's sake he manages to convince the villagers to help see off the looters and he decides that perhaps settling in Normandy isn't such a bad thing afterall.
Sharpe’s Devil
South America 1820-21
Sharpe and Harper are happily reunited when Louisa, last seen in
Rifles, shows up on Sharpe’s doorstep to
ask him to search for her husband Blas Vivar, who has gone missing in
South America. Lucille knows nothing of Sharpe’s former crush on Louisa,
but is resigned to see her man go off adventuring again, as is Isabella.
Harper has put on weight sampling the wares of his business and Sharpe,
ever the lean machine, can’t stop teasing him about it, gruffly hiding
how happy he is to see Patrick again.
On the way the boys stop off to sip tea with an old villian, Napoleon himself, who gives Sharpe a few souvenirs including a lock of his hair. The lads find the colony as corrupt as any and are soon done over for their money, possessions and are finally sent up a mountain path to be ambushed and killed. They elude the trap with the help of a native guide, who isn’t so fortunate, but are arrested in the church where Vivar is allegedly buried and sent back aboard the boat that brought them to Chile, this time as crew.
Their boat is attacked by American pirates and limps into port. Pretending to be sailing under friendly flags they land and, remembering Lossow's charge from Salamnaca, Sharpe takes first one, then two more forts along the harbour, until the entire harbour is theirs. Sharpe unravels a plot to reinstate Napoleon, and an opposing plot to keep milking the colony cash cow. The colonial governor, Captain General Miguel Bautista, kills himself in a failed suicide pact with his lover, Marquinez, his second in command. The plot to free Napoleon fails because Napoleon, in the meantime, has died.
Sharpe's Christmas
Spain 1813
It's Christmas, and in spite of Sharpe not wanting to see anyone die on such a day, the French are determined to fight. Luckily for Sharpe, the surviving Colonel is Gudin, the best Colonel Sharpe had ever served under, way back in India (see Sharpe's Tiger). Gudin relates the sorry state of his career since India to Sharpe and Sharpe, fond of the French Colonel, decides to give Gudin his victory. It's a Christmas thing.
Sharpe’s Ransom
France 1816
Out of work French soldiers, now roaming the countryside as bandits, decide to visit Sharpe and relieve him of the Emperor's treasure he rescued (see Sharpe's Revenge). Sharpe doesn't have the treasure, so the outlaws hold his family hostage and Sharpe has to rely on the locals, who dislike the Englishman amongst them, to help him.