Sharpe's Eagle - Bernard Cornwell

After watching all of the television series, Sharpe, and having extolled it's virtues to all and sundry, I was advised to read the novels on which it was based. I began my delve into these books with Sharpe's Rifles (which was one of the later books to be written) was duly impressed and started on this, Sharpe's Eagle, the first to be written (and set several months after Rifles) and in actual fact the first novel that the author, Bernard Cornwell, ever wrote. The year is 1809 and the British army is slowly clawing Spain back from Napoleon's victorious hordes. Separated from his battalion during a previous rout through Spain, Lieutenant Richard Sharpe and his ...  Read the complete review

A military based book really is not my cup of tea, and this is why I anticipated not liking this book. However, having read some of Bernard Cornwell’s other stuff, and been suitably impressed, I decided to hold back my reservations and give this book a chance, and am I glad I did so! Telling the story of Army personnel agent Sharpe (in very much the same vein as the other books, almost becoming a complete series now), a member of the high profile ‘Green jackets’ division and his hugely critical mission assigned to him by his General Sir David Baird, this book tells the story in a completely different way than I had imagined, bringing a very ...  Read the complete review

Sharpe's Eagle is part of a series of books by Bernard Cornwell, the series is based on a fictional British Soldier, Richard Sharpe during the 17/1800's, it is historically fiction based on real battles and sometimes real events during this time. The books where originally during the Napoleonic wars but Bernard Cornwell has since written about his time before this war. This book is the 8th in the series in the Sharpe series and was published in 1981, by HarperCollins and is also available in audio book. The Story The 95th Rifles have returned to England, Sharpe and his men being separated from them are attached to a newly formed and ...  Read the complete review

Fans of bernard Cornwell will be happy but I would not recommend this book to 'Sharpe virgins'. It has some moments, which ar very rare in the sharpe series when the reader may look at his watch or how long is left. The story is good, and beats pretty much anything else on the market as a book in its own right but it has been beaten by at least 4 or 5 other sharpe book which have a more gripping storyline and sub plot. I am unwilling to give away the whole plot, but, as you can probably guess, Sharpe captures an eagle at the end. The beginning of the book involves sharpe in the earlier period of the peninsular war, concerned with the problems the young wellington ...  Read the complete review