Book description
Major Sharpe, in the bitter winter, must attempt a desperate rescue and
face his most implacable enemy.
Newly promoted, he is given the task of rescuing a group of well-born
women, held hostage high in the mountains by a rabble of deserters. And
one of the renegades is Sergeant Hakeswill, Sharpe's bitter enemy.
Sharpe has only the support of his own company and the new Rocket Troop
- the last word in military incompetence - but he cannot afford to
contemplate defeat. For to surrender or to fail would mean the end of
the war for the Allied armies…
Soldier, hero, rogue - Sharpe is the man you always want on your side.
Born in poverty, he joined the army to escape jail and climbed the ranks
by sheer brutal courage. He knows no other family than the regiment of
the 95th Rifles whose green jacket he proudly wears. 'Sharpe and his
creator are national treasures.' Sunday Telegraph
'Bernard Cornwell is a literary miracle. Year after year, hail, rain,
snow, war and political upheavals fail to prevent him from producing the
most entertaining and readable historical novels of his generation.'
Daily Mail
'Cornwell's narration is quite masterly and supremely well-researched.' Observer
'The best battle scenes of any writer I've ever read, past or present.
Cornwell really makes history come alive.' George R. R. Martin Bernard
Cornwell worked for BBC TV for seven years, mostly as producer on the
Nationwide programme, before taking charge of the Current Affairs
department in Northern Ireland. In 1978 he became editor of Thames
Television's Thames at Six. Married to an American, he now lives in the
United States.
