Sharpe’s Trafalgar cover art

Sharpe’s Trafalgar

The Battle of Trafalgar, 21 October 1805

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Sharpe’s Trafalgar

By: Bernard Cornwell
Narrated by: Rupert Farley
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Summary

‘Sharpe and his creator are national treasures.' Sunday Telegraph

Cape Trafalgar, October 1805

Heading home on a merchant ship from India, Ensign Richard Sharpe finds himself on a far more dangerous journey than he could have anticipated, for war brews at sea. The formidable French navy have destroyed the British blockade and face an outnumbered but formidable foe: Admiral Nelson.

Sharpe’s meeting aboard the Calliope with the beautiful Lady Grace Hale turns quickly to obsession, but he finds unexpected enemies and deep treachery amongst his fellow passengers. And as they approach Cape Trafalgar and the enemy fleet comes into view, ready to fight in one of the most glorious but deadly clashes of the war is Sharpe . . .

‘A master storyteller’ DAILY TELEGRAPH

Action & Adventure Fiction Genre Fiction Historical Fiction Science Fiction War & Military
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Critic reviews

‘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
All stars
Most relevant
With a very long road trip to come I needed something as near to guaranteed to be a good listen as I could find. This of course leaves a very short list of authors and characters and George Cornwell’s Sharpe is one of very few that fit the bill. In fact I have quite deliberately taken my time to go back to this series because it is simply that good and I want to savour it.

This one is a bit different from the previous three of course as Sharpe leaves India to begin his journey home and start his new career with the Rifles. It does take a little time to get to the real action but the story is entertaining and throughout Cornwell demonstrates that he is just as capable at naval fiction as he is at everything else!

The triumph of this book though is that when the action starts it is heart stopping stuff. Trafalgar will always be one of the most iconic of naval battles and Nelson one of this Island’s most feted heroes. These are not subjects to be trifled with but with Cornwell in charge you can feel the spray on your face, taste the blood in your mouth and smell the powder smoke in the air. The tactics deployed in the battle required every man to do more than his duty, it was a terrifyingly novel approach to fleet warfare and all of it gets its full due. This has to be one of the finest battles in modern literature and Sharpe is inserted into the overall picture deftly.

Of course this is Sharpe so he’s never content with having just say the French and Spanish to fight, he makes other enemies closer to home and yes of course there is a lady for him to pursue.

Rupert Farley brings it all to life for us with his usual excellence and by the end of the book I was happy to have experienced another masterpiece from George Cornwell. My biggest issue with this series is to resist buying all of it and running away to a dark room somewhere until it is finished!

Sharpe Sails for Glory!

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This was the first Sharpe book Ive listened to. I was always a bit apprenhesive about the sharpe series as theres so many and Ive read conflicting things about where to start. Im now of the opinion it doesnt really matter since the stories seem fairly self contained.

I really enjoyed this listen - It was easy to get in to, gripping and had good narration.

First Sharpe

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intense action all.the way through.never loses pace culminating in an epic finale .
loved the full descriptions of the English naval fleet and the charismatic nelson

the best of the Sharpe novels.

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Such an amazing story that it makes me wish there was more of Sharpe at sea!

A marvelous adventures at sea!

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More of a meandering book than the others I’ve listened to so far I suppose it’s worth taking a look at Sharpe from a different angle what’s to do on a ship it’s ok but not as gripping as normal

Sharpe on a ship

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