Sharpe's Rifles (Richard Sharpe's Adventure Series #1) by Bernard Cornwell (2001-02-01)

I started the eleven book series in October of 1998 and finished in early February 1999. Hands down the best series of books I have ever read. Sharpe's Rifles and Sharpe's Gold (#3) were my favorites. Read them all, read them as fast as you can and then read them again. I can't remember when I've had as much fun reading. Why I had to read Shakespeare in high school in stead of these, I'll never know.

Fascinating tale but with detail on the development of light infantry tactics and the initial use of the, then, new rifle. Loved the movie/DVD on it also even though it had to cut some corners combined two stories and was low budget. Well worth reading and watching the whole series.

If you've read Bernard Cornwell then you are familiar with the Saxon Chronicles and the Archer Series, both are better in my opinion. Sharpe's is a good read, and well written but just not as intriguing. Sharpe is not easy to like, which is not new to a Cornwell character, but it makes it harder to get behind him. Overall a good book which I would recommend reading, just after you've read all the other books mentioned above - or maybe before so you won't be able to make the same comparisons.

I couldn't really get immersed in this story, the protagonist is too much of an emotional basket case. He seems to want/resent being an officer, yet instead of moving forward by either resigning his commission or overcoming his educational short comings, he instead wallows in resentment of his status. I only felt contempt for the protagonist.

If you are interested in good military history and like fictional characters in real battles, the Sharpe's series by Bernard Cornwell is outstanding. There are about 15 or 18 books in the series, starting when Private Richard Sharpe is an 17 year old private in the British Army in India in the late 1700, and follows him through battles in India, Trafalgar, Denmark, Portugal, Spain and eventually to the battle of Waterloo. Cornwell has done his research and us sticklers for realism can see he has the correct history of the battles, description of same, proper equipment, tactics, and armament. BBC did a 15 part mini-series which is available on DVD and well worth the watch. But be warned that the DVD series starts in Portugal and leaves out the first books on India where Sharpe is a private, makes sergeant, and finally makes ensign. In the series he is a lieutenant who, because he rose from the ranks and is disliked by the "proper" officers of aristocratic families who bought their commissiions, gets assigned to the 90th Rifles (Green Jackets) as no other snooty officer wants to be there (they don't like how slow the rifles load compared to muskets even though the Baker rifles have longer ranges and are more accurate than the Brown Bess muskets). But Sharpe drills his men until they are very combat effective. As a retired US Army infantry officer, and US Marine Vietnam vet, I really like this series. Only 10 more books to go! Cornwell, a former BBC producer, took his motivation for writing this series after reading the Hornblower series as a lad.

‘Sharpe’s Rifles’ is centred on the mainly fictional account of events in 1809 after a small expeditionary army sent to Spain in 1809 to support the Spanish and to cut off the invading French Army's supply lines. The story opens when the British army is forced to retreat and Lieutenant Sharpe finds himself for the first time in charge of a unit of his Rifle regiment. They find themselves cut off from the main army and the soldiers are reluctant to take orders from someone of their own class. This was the first ‘prequel in the Sharpe series, and in a sense it does show, as there is no reference to his relationships he had in the previous book. Also, the book does lean more to fiction than many other books in the series. However, this is a fine entertaining novel, that easily captures the atmosphere of the previous books and I’m sure it won’t be long before I’ll be tucking in to the next book in the series.

The 6th story in the Richard Sharpe adventure series. Lieutenant Sharpe commands the 95th Rifles of the South Essex Regiment. The men deeply mistrust him because he is not a "proper" officer coming from wealth and status, but a man like them, a common soldier who was promoted from within the ranks. In order to win their respect, Sharpe must first win the trust of Rifleman Harper, a large, tough, Irishman who plans to kill Sharpe for making them march through French-occupied Spain in retreat to Lisbon. The Rifles meet Blas Vivar, a Spanish nobleman, who convinces the 95th to help him and his Cazadores to storm the French-held fortress at Santiago. Vivar carries a well-guarded chest that contains the banner of St. James the Apostle, and legend says that any army that flies the banner of St. James will never be defeated in battle. Sharpe fights not for the legend, but for a young English woman, Louisa, who separates from her strict Protestant aunt in pursuit of adventure and romance in war-torn Spain. The 95th witnesses the savage fighting skills of their mistrusted lieutenant, and Vivar persuades Harper to accept a promotion to Sergeant. A splendid book.

Bernard Cornwell's long running series about Richard Sharpe, a foot-soldier in India and in the Napoleonic Wars is one of the best historical series around. Sharpe's Rifles is set at the time of the brutal French Invasion of Galicia in Spain in January 1809.

While Richard Sharpe joined the Army to avoid prison he quickly found that he loved a life of a soldier, especially the adrenaline pumping excitement of battle. He has proved himself in battle and gained a stunning battlefield promotion to become an officer. This is not a comfortable situation as other officers look down on him because he is not their class and his troops who won't look up to him because he is not seen to be a proper officer.

Sharpe has moved on to join the 95th Rifles who are posted to Spain. His Company Commander is killed in a skirmish with the French and Sharpe is left in command to get his Company to safety through French lines. This would be hard enough with the respect of his riflemen which is not forthcoming, especially from the dominating and difficult Irishman Harper who the troops look up to instead of Sharpe. The battle of wills between two strong personalities is enthralling and compelling.

Sharpe's Company meet up with Spanish cavalry commanded by aristocrat Major Vivar who means to raise the flag of Spain's patron saint over Santiago de Compostela, now in French hands. Sharpe is faced with a dilemma, to help Viva or to go it alone in dangerous country.

Once again this is a history lesson about the art of war in the early 19th Century which is bloody and brutal. It is also the story of a brave and clever man of common background who has to face up to his gremlins to get the respect of his men.

I found some of the background, especially Sharpe's relationship with women from a genteel background, is a little confusing because the book was written before SHARPE'S TRAFALGAR (which comes before Rifles in the timeline) where Sharpe has a torrid and very emotional relationship with Lady Grace Hale.

Once again this is a great page-turning story which puts you in a front row seat on the battleground and builds up Sharpe's character as he faces up to his gremlins and shows that he is one of the smartest soldiers of his generation. I still have lots of Sharpe's adventures to share and I look forward to reading them from time to time as exciting relief from more contemporary novels. 4.5 stars.

Many people compare the Hornblower books to the Sharpe novels and vice versa. The two series have little in common other than covering similar time periods in British history, one from the naval and the other from the military perspective. As his name suggests, Sharpe is quick-witted and as adaptable as a Swiss army knife. Hornblower is more cerebral and comfortable in his officer's role. Sharpe is initially a fish out of water when leading his men, and he knows it.

If you are like me, you've been reading these books in the order of the events they portray (rather than the order of publication). From that perspective, Sharpe's Rifles is the sixth in chronological order of events.

Since Sharpe was raised to be an ensign by saving the life of Sir Arthur Wellesley as the Battle of Assaye, he's been struggling. The Scottish regiments in India didn't want him because he is English. Posted to the 95th Rifles in England, the officers don't want him because he's not a gentleman born and the men don't respect him for the same reason. But he's seen as valuable in a quartermaster role where he can keep an eye on the tricks that soldiers use to fiddle the stores. Sharpe is a good quartermaster, but he wants to fight instead.

In Sharpe's Rifles, Sharpe comes unexpectedly to command a small group of the 95th Rifles during a disastrous retreat from the victorious French. He decides to take his men to Lisbon to find transport, but the men plan to head north instead. Immediately, Sharpe's authority is challenged and he fights back the only way he knows how . . . with his fists. Into that perilous moment steps a Spanish grandee, Major Blas Vivar, who persuades Sharpe to join forces with his cavalry troops who are carrying a mysterious chest to Santiago de Compostela. What's in the chest? It must be valuable because the French have dispatched a lot of troops to get it.

Trekking in miserable weather over the mountains in winter, Sharpe comes to respect Vivar who helps Sharpe learn how to command. Their alliance is sundered when Sharpe learns that Vivar hasn't been telling the truth about certain things. It doesn't seem to matter when Sharpe learns that the French have taken Santiago de Compostela. There's no point in going there!

Sharpe's life is further upset by running into a family of English Methodists who are trying to convert the "heathen" Catholics to their Protestant faith without much success and demand Sharpe protect them from the French. Sharpe isn't excited about acceding to this demand, but he can't help but be drawn to their young niece who is flirtatious.

Before long, Sharpe is involved in matters that seem more relevant for Don Quixote than for the 95th Rifles as he joins an idealistic crusade to strike a symbolic blow for Spain. From there, it's great fun . . . among the best of the Sharpe novels. Bernard Cornwall has taken a lot of license with history here, and it makes for good story telling.

Fans of Sergeant Harper in the later novels will be thrilled to find out how he became a sergeant in this book.

I suspect this book will be one of your favorites in the series.

Bernard Cornwell's magnificent Richard Sharpe series continues on with "Sharpe's Rifles," set in the mountains of Spain in 1809. Sharpe is still a despised quartermaster in the 95th Rifles, but tragedy and war provide him with the opportunity to learn and prove that he is a true leader of men.

Bernard Cornwell has famously written the Sharpe series out of chronological order, so for many readers "Sharpe's Rifles" is a prequel. Not so for me -- I've been fortunate enough to start the series with "Sharpe's Tiger," so "Sharpe's Rifles" falls into the natural progression for me. After reading some of the other reviews, I sense that as a prequel, "Sharpe's Rifles" was a touch disappointing. I do not share these sentiments.

"Rifles" finds Sharpe in the ultra-violent clash between loyal Spaniards and their English allies on the one side and the French with their traitorous Spanish allies on the other. This is no-holds-barred combat, and the French are not above razing entire villages to the ground after putting all men, women and children to the sword. To top it off, the war is being fought in the dead of winter, where freezing cold kills as many soldiers and civilians as swords and bullets.

Sharpe finds himself the only surviving officer in a group of surviving Riflemen, and while he has the rank, he does not have the respect of the men. Mired hundreds of miles from home, seemingly cut off from any escape route, Shapre seems doomed to lead his men into disaster . . . for which he will likely receive a bullet in the back from one of his belligerent subordinates.

Things change when Sharpe meets up with a dashing Spanish officer charged with a sacred duty -- to protect a symbol of Spain's religious fervor that is guaranteed to unite the populace in a charge against the hated French. The only problem is that the Spanish officer is being hunted by one of France's most sadistic and clever officers, and he will stop at nothing before he retrieves the relic.

It is all here for fans of Cornwell's work -- the amazing battle scenes, Sharpe's struggles with his doubts, the compelling cast of supporting characters, and a lovely woman who steals Sharpe's heart. Pulsating with the power of the Spanish mountains, "Sharpe's Rifles" is action-packed, funny, and surprisingly elevated with its respect for Spain's hyper-religious culture. Indeed, it is the "rational" French who are the villains here.

You should read "Sharpe's Rifles," but based on the other reviews I've read, you should read it in chronological order with the other books - check out Cornwell's website for an updated list.

This enjoyable sixth series entry appears to have been written before the previous five. (And after eight later ones.) It's fun watching Cornwell make it all fit, no mean feat. The writing crackles with newness, not having yet settled into a lower-key long-distance pace.

We meet Sharpe - original readers really were meeting him for the first time - in Spain's northwest Galicia region in 1809. His unit gets cut off while retreating from the French. Sharpe, as quartermaster the lowliest form of officer life, finds himself in command. He must win over men who expect officers to be gentlemen, not from the ranks like themselves and certainly not raggedly poor like Sharpe.

With escape to the nearby coast impossible, he must face down a mutiny to lead them toward Lisbon, where a British garrison remains. His biggest problem: the huge Irishman Patrick Harper, who wants no part of the English or Sharpe. They meet up with Spanish cavalry led by Major Vivar, a local aristocrat to whom peasants are loyal. This unlikely ally carries with him a mysterious chest the French desperately want to capture. He also teaches Sharpe about command. Sharpe's men learn he already knows how to fight.

Cornwell must have had plans for the earlier books. He touches lightly on earlier events, but mentions enough - the battles of Assaye and Seringapatam, the storming of Gawilghur, the fateful encounters with the Tippoo Sultan and General Arthur Wellesley - later written about. He avoids missteps which would then have had to be changed. He writes Sharpe strongly in the present tense, sort of like Hammett's Continental Op, avoiding the not-yet-written past, but also establishing Sharpe's lonely, poor and defiant persona. And this, finally, is where Sharpe gains command.

This is the first 'Sharpe'(and Bernard Cornwell) novel I've read. I was aware of the TV series with Sean Bean(which will air this summer on BBC America), and of the books, and finally decided to try one. I knew that the series proceeds in 'chronological', rather than published order, so I went with the 'earliest' adventure I could find. I was not disappointed!

'Sharpe's Rifles' is a perfect blend of all the elements which could have gotten a lesser historical fiction author into trouble, but Cornwell manages to combine action and character development, without over-emphasizing one or the other.

The developing relationship between Sharpe and Harper builds to a satisfying 'conclusion' here...although it's really only the beginning! Sharpe himself becoms more likable, to both his men and his reading audience, as his confidence grows in battle.

The Spanish major, Blas Vivar, presents Sharpe with an interesting contrast as a foe, but as we learn more about him and his true intentions in Santiago de Compostela, he becomes a worthy comrade-in-arms, as well. The 'romantic' subplot turns out as one might expect for Sharpe, but I was left hoping that Vivar and Louisa will turn up in a future volume.

I'm looking forward to discovering more of this entertaining series!

I discovered Sharpe in a remnant bookshop in Auckland, New Zealand, in 1987. The first three Sharpe books cost me, in total, NZ$10. Around US$5. I have never seen Sharpe / Cornwell in a remnant or second-hand bookshop since. And I gladly fork out my $ for the next new Sharpe. I have all of them. Each one gets read once every two years. My wife thought I was a lunatic - until I read "Sharpe's Rifles" aloud to her. Now, she's read all my Sharpe books, and competes with me to get the newest and latest. Incidentally - the trip back in time to India is superb! If you've never read any of the series before, do start with Sharpe in India, then go on to this one. It's simply a matter of chronology. I now have everything Cornwell has written... including the unfortunate Starbuck Chronicles. Three or four of the Sharpe TV series have screened here - but the dumbing down of TV has meant that they were screened at a time when they were bound to pick no viewers: 11.30pm. "We had no viewers, therefore we shan't buy the rest of the series.." cried the dorks at the Channel responsible. Sigh. And the store only has them on NTSC, not PAL! Bugger! Great series, great reads. Buy them all, and make Bernard Cornwell wealthy. He deserves it.

Sharpe's Rifles by Bernard Cornwell is an exciting roller-coaster ride of battles and army life as seen through the eyes of Richard Sharpe, a newly made lieutenant in the English infantry. During the early 1800s most officers in the English infantry were of noble birth, however Lt. Sharpe, a former enlisted man comes from the ranks. He receives little respect from the men in his command and even less from his peers. The setting is in Spain during the French-Napoleonic invasions. The English (and Lt. Sharpe) are supporting the freedom fighters of Spain.
His army has been defeated and the French are pushing the English towards the coast of Spain and into Portugal. Through a series of mishaps he finds himself under the loose command of a Spanish Major who is intent upon flying a holy banner from a major city deep within the French area of control. Sharpe must win the respect of his men, fight an invincible French Colonel, and vie for the attentions of a beautiful English missionary.
I admit that I was a fan of the PBS series before I read the books. However, when you start this book you will have a hard time putting it down. Cornwell writes in plain English and his dialog is great.