Rating: 
Summary: Sharpe's Battle: Not Cornwell's Best, But A Lot Of Fun
Review: 'Sharpe's Battle,' starts out with a bang and then gets bogged down to an ultimatley unsatisfying ending. While this book holds true to the spirit of the series and the attention to historical detail is first rate (a Cornwell trademark,) the wonderful story is sacrificed in Cornwell's attempt to illustrate the battle of Fuentes De Ornero. In other 'Sharpe' novels the battle scenes enhance the story but not so in 'Sharpe's Battle.' Fans of the series should enjoy it but those new to the world of Richard Sharpe would do well read the author's original series which starts with 'Sharpe's Rifles.'
Rating:
Summary: Feels Like it was Written From a Script
Review: 'Sharpes Battle' is a hard read. The characters and the dialogue do not fit, they don't mesh with the relationships that Bernard Cornwell built up in his original books. Someone suggested that they felt Cornwell was forced into writing this for the television series and that may be true. This book is an addition to the original 11 of the series, that span the Peninsular & Napoleonic wars, and fills in an almost two year gap between the battles of 'Sharpes Gold' and 'Sharpes Company' (books 3 & 4). It was also written/published five years after book 11 ('Waterloo'), while the television series was in production. And it's the only Sharpes book written after 'Waterloo' that delves back to the original series - 'Sharpes Devil' takes place in 1820, after Richard Sharpe has retired from the army (and is a great ending to the stories of Sharpe and Harper), while 'Sharpes Tiger' goes back to his origins as an enlisted man in India.If written by anyone other than Cornwell (and for a brief moment I wondered if Sharpes Battle had been ghostwritten), I would have given it five stars - because it is good. But it seems like Cornwells' heart wasn't in to writing this tale and so it falls short. But, if you've read all the others, you gotta read this one. If you're new to the series, any of the original books are worth reading, in any order (I started with books 8 thru 11, and then 1 thru 7).
Rating: 
Summary: One of the best Sharoe books yet!
Review: After finishing this book I thought it was one of the best of the series. This is the book that pits Sharpe against as Enemy like himself, Brigadier Loup is a great French commander, he commands an 'elite' Battalion known as the Loup Brigade. Like Sharpe's own rifles, these are a well-trained unit. The book in general is typical Cornwell writing, you get a dose of history, a bit of romance and a whole load of heroism and action. Once you read a Sharpe novel the battle scenes get you gripped, you find yourself living it, smelling the acrid cannon smoke, tasting the foul, salty gunpowder of the muskets. This book is typical Sharpe and then some, the battle with Loup is like a clash of the titans, I recommend this book greatly, its one of the best of the series. 5 Stars
Rating:
Summary: One of the best Sharoe books yet!
Review: After finishing this book I thought it was one of the best of the series. This is the book that pits Sharpe against as Enemy like himself, Brigadier Loup is a great French commander, he commands an 'elite' Battalion known as the Loup Brigade. Like Sharpe's own rifles, these are a well-trained unit. The book in general is typical Cornwell writing, you get a dose of history, a bit of romance and a whole load of heroism and action. Once you read a Sharpe novel the battle scenes get you gripped, you find yourself living it, smelling the acrid cannon smoke, tasting the foul, salty gunpowder of the muskets. This book is typical Sharpe and then some, the battle with Loup is like a clash of the titans, I recommend this book greatly, its one of the best of the series. 5 Stars
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Summary: Cornwell's adaptation of the Carlton Television screenplay..
Review: Although a thoroughly good read, I can't help but feel that Cornwell was forced into this by the TV producers, who refused to use his original books, and only his characters.
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Summary: One of the Weaker in the Series
Review: Another in the long-running Sharpe series, this one starts promisingly enough as Sharpe encounters the nasty French Brigadier General "Loup" (Wolf) and his elite counterinsurgency unit, who author atrocities worthy of modern warfare in the name of suppressing the Spanish partisans. After establishing Sharpe and Loup as dire enemies, the book continues through an initial fight, which ties into a subplot involving an Irish regiment of the Spanish emperor's bodyguard. This subplot occasionally bogs things down, and in the final third of the book--which details the battle of Fuentes de Ooro (1811)--we unfortunately lose track of Sharpe for long stretches before the inevitable climactic encounter between him and Loup. Not surprisingly, there's a beautiful and dangerous woman involved in it all. It's one of the weaker entries in the series, but still quite enjoyable.
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Summary: CAPTAIN (not Lt. Col.) Sharpe's Battle in the Pennisula
Review: Basically an aside from the main 11 novels in the Sharpe series (between no. 3 and 4), Sharpe's Battle highlights the conflict between one of the British Army's best officers against the French best. Cornwell manages to convincingly combine actual events and people with his imagination to create a setting for adventure, action, and drama. I believe this is the only Sharpe novel where a newly introduced lady does not fall for/bed Sharpe:) I couldn't put the book down until I had finished reading all 400+ pages. I too have to add my request for more Sharpe.
Rating:
Summary: Subpar for the series
Review: Because this book was written with the movie in mind, it doesn't flow in the same manner as the other books. While this makes the book lighter and sunnier than the rest of the series, it also makes the situation somewhat ridiculous, especially since some of the Chosen Men appear in this book, but then never appear again in any of the books chronologically before or after it. The description of the Battle of Fuentes de Onoro, however, was probably the best in the series, and rescued a subpar story. Read the book for the battle sequences. If a movie could be made with this level of descriptiveness and eloquence, I'd go watch it tomorrow.
Rating:
Summary: Subpar for the series
Review: Because this book was written with the movie in mind, it doesn't flow in the same manner as the other books. While this makes the book lighter and sunnier than the rest of the series, it also makes the situation somewhat ridiculous, especially since some of the Chosen Men appear in this book, but then never appear again in any of the books chronologically before or after it. The description of the Battle of Fuentes de Onoro, however, was probably the best in the series, and rescued a subpar story. Read the book for the battle sequences. If a movie could be made with this level of descriptiveness and eloquence, I'd go watch it tomorrow.
Rating:
Summary: Great Fun!
Review: Bernard Cornwell's "Sharpe's Battle" is another fine entry in the Sharpe series. As with all of Cornwell's Sharpe books there are loads of action and excitement. "Battle" was written during the BBC series 1995 and is even dedicated to Sean Bean, the actor who played Sharpe. It is Spain 1811 the British are trying to maintain their foothold in the Iberian Peninsula. Sharpe gets his company lost in the foothills and stumbles across a town that was wiped up by the French. Sharpe orders the execution of two French soldiers thus earning the enmity of the ruthless French Brigadier General Loup (the Wolf). Thus begins a story that includes characters such as: the evil spy-master Major Ducos, the hysterical ruminations of Wagon Master (General) Runciman, the tragic drunken Irish Lord Kiely, the impotent partisan El Castrador (that's right Castrador). Can you imagine a better cast of characters. What fun! I disagree with some of the other reviews and found "Sharpe's Battle" great. I would recommend this story to anyone, especially Sharpe fans.
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