In this one, an incompetent British major is duped by an enemy agent into thinking that Sharpe and his men have been captured, so he abandons the castle he'd been holding, which is empty by the time Sharpe arrives there, pursued by the French.

Pretty good one - I think this must take place fairly late in time, as Sharpe is quite a senior rank now, and spends time musing over the years he's been fighting. He's also married to a high-ranking woman (I get the timing mixed up so I don't know if this is his only wife) and spends much of the book worrying about her.

The Americans also make an appearance in here: they are allied to the French, but one of them strikes up a friendship with Sharpe, and is faced with an uncomfortable decision when called on to attack the castle in which Sharpe is besieged.

I continue to be impressed with how exciting and readable Cornwell can make the battle sequences. How many times can you write about an engagement with the Napoleonic army before getting boring? Quite a lot it would seem.

A good one.

Completed : 26-May-2010 (audiobook)