Rating: 
Summary: Excellent starting novel for the Sharpe series
Review: This book gives the background in detail of the hero. Even though it is the latest in the long series - it is really the first book. It answers all kinds of questions about Sharpe. Very well written, easy to follow. And as usual an exciting yarn. For old fans it is a great incite into the hero, and for new readers, it sets the stage for the series
Rating: 
Summary: A great yarn
Review: This book is a great example of well done Historical
Fiction and I enjoyed it a great deal. Mr. Cornwell
said in his interview, which I read, that he is not well
known in this country. All I can say, is that he should be! I saw a movie adaptation of Sharpe's Eagle and another
novel on the History channel and enjoyed them fully. I will be ordering more of the Sharpe series soon!!
Rating:
Summary: Cornwell at his roaring best...
Review: This is great stuff for the armchair adventurer with a a bad case of nostalgia for the old colonial days. The author's Boy's Own Paper-style still holds appeal for those raised to serve one's country while the tigers and heat of Mysore are there for good effect. Sharpe's the word with more to come, I hope.
Rating:
Summary: Now I understand all the hype!
Review: This is the first Sharpe novel I have read, although I did catch some of the TV series. I am not a fan of multiple formula novels churned out by lazy writers, and I was suspicious of this series.
But Cornwell has done something different here. He has taken real events, from the career of Arthur Wellesley (later the Duke of Wellington). Then he has inserted the character of Richard Sharp, a canny ex-thief ranker in the British Infantry. One of the men Wellington was to describe as "Scum of the Earth" after Badajoz. From the viewpoint of Sharpe we see the business end of the British Army, a worms eye view of the rise of Wellesley and the Indian and Peninsular campaigns. What you are getting is real history fleshed out with a cracking good story. And it is very well done! I am very tempted to dig further into this substantial series of books. I can see why they have become so popular.
Rating:
Summary: The best read book series
Review: The Sharpe's series is historical fiction at its best. Cornwell does a thorough, scholarly job for his books and Sharpe and the other characters are wonderful. The reader of the audio books, Frederick Davidson, is one of the best in the business. He has mastered every character in the series: Sharpe, the producct of the lowest London class as well as the French, the upper crust British, the lower and uppercrust Irish, the Spanish Grandees and the foot soldiers, the Germans, etc.
I love the Cornwell books. I enjoyed the PBS series. The best, however, is the audio version read by Frederick Davidson. It brings to light a wonderful group of books.
Rating:
Summary: First in the Richard Sharpe series, a Grand adventure
Review: Sharpe's Tiger is the first chronologically (although not the first written) in Bernard Cornwell's acclaimed Richard Sharpe series. In Sharpe's Tiger Private Richard Sharpe is in India fighting with the 33rd Regiment. His regimental officer is inept, and his sergeant is the evil Hakeswill, but overall Sharpe is happy. Then, his woman catches the eyes of his superiors and Sharpe is set up for death. He is tricked into hitting an officer and sentenced to a brutal flogging. Yet, despite the flogging Sharpe is saved by his colonel Arthur Wellesley and sent on a secret mission with a young officer named Lawford. Sent to a impregnable fortress controlled by the Tippoo, Sharpe must battle British and native forces to complete his mission. Failure means hideous death, but success could lead him to more wealth than he could possibly imagine. Once again Bernard Cornwell writes a rolicking adventure. By taking Sharpe back to the beginning, Cornwell brings an added dimension to his classic character. It is interesting to see Sharpe grow and mature as a soldier. Overall, I highly recommend this volume of historical fiction.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent Historical Fiction
Review: I have read many historical works of fiction. However, I had really no prior reading experience with this era of Indian/British history. This book provides an exciting adventure about British soldiers in late 18th century India.
Particularly follows the trials and adventures of a hardened soldier. This is not about any ordinary soldier. Rather, it's about Private Richard Sharpe.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent series. I love discovering new book series!!!
Review: My brother told me about the 'Sharpe' series and so I read Sharpe's Tiger. AWESOME!!! From the first page, Bernard Cornwell paints the picture of what life was like for enlisted 'grunts' in 1799. You can almost feel the heat of the desert and feel the grime. Cornwell puts you in Sharpe's shoes. It's written so vividly that it's like you're right there. I'm glad that there are 20 books in the series. I'll be reading every one. I LOVE discovering authors that I haven't read that write this well.. READ IT, YOU'LL LOVE IT!!!
Rating:
Summary: Now I understand all the hype!
Review: This is the first Sharpe novel I have read, although I did catch some of the TV series. I am not a fan of multiple formula novels churned out by lazy writers, and I was suspicious of this series. But Cornwell has done something different here. He has taken real events, from the career of Arthur Wellesley (later the Duke of Wellington). Then he has inserted the character of Richard Sharp, a canny ex-thief ranker in the British Infantry. One of the men Wellington was to describe as "Scum of the Earth" after Badajoz. From the viewpoint of Sharpe we see the business end of the British Army, a worms eye view of the rise of Wellesley and the Indian and Peninsular campaigns. What you are getting is real history fleshed out with a cracking good story. And it is very well done! I am very tempted to dig further into this substantial series of books. I can see why they have become so popular.
Rating:
Summary: Bloody good
Review: This is the first Sharpe series book that I read, and it won't be the last -- I plan to follow the series in chronological order (although that's not the order in which Cornwell wrote them). Richard Sharpe is an infantry grunt who joined the British army to avoid jail for his crimes. Beaten down by his sergeant, trudging through southern India in England's ubiquitous (woolen) redcoat, he first considers fleeing the army but is soon framed for a whipping after encountering his first firefight. Events and a sympathetic officer contrive to launch Sharpe into a spy mission to rescue a British officer who is in the custody of the Tippoo of Mysore -- the man whose kingdom the British are trying to topple in order to control southern India and who has planned a surprise for the British for their impending attack on his fortress. Cornwell keeps the action flowing, uses his viewpoint characters well and has vast knowledge of both his general historical subject as well as the tactics, arms and daily life of the British army in the Napoleonic era. Sharpe is a common soldier with a strong will to survive and an appreciation of loyalty and bravery, not a super-heroic James Bond with old weapons. And Cornwell doesn't pull his punches regarding the darker aspects of British imperialism. This is accessible writing that flows, unlike other historical novelists who write with an eye for the arcane. Good stuff.
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