Rating: 
Summary: Out of retirement for Mister Sharpe!
Review: It is 1821, six years after the Battle of Waterloo. Richard Sharpe, veteran of the French Wars, has made his home and family in Normandy. However, the sudden arrival of Blas Vivar's wife alerts this instinctive hero to trouble. It is up to Sharpe in locating General Blas Vivar and bring him back from revolutionary Chile. Seeking out a fattened Patrick Harper - formerly his Irish sergeant-major - the two friends make their way by ship to the distant shores of the New World. They stop off at St. Helena to pay their respects to an exiled emperor: once the Scourge of Europe, now a saddened, sickened old man, plagued by what his own greatness could have brought France. Despite his restrictions, and being a former enemy, Napoleon proves a charming, almost sympathetic host. Yet, from almost beginning to end, Sharpe is tricked into aiding a conspiracy that could drench all the Americas in blood and turmoil. I won't spoil it for you by elaborating. But I will mention that the last (chonologically!) Sharpe adventure proves most entertaining: with varied, believable characters, a strange land fully described, peopled by treacherous, corrupt, and deceitful officials who delight in toying with two foreigners on an honourable mission. The interesting aspect of this great plot is that Spain gradually becomes Sharpe's enemy. In particular, I loved the delicate interview with Napoleon; Bautista proved a most cowardly, cunning arch-villain, and the wild, courageous rebel Cochrane added extra spice to a gripping read. Sharpe is set on course for an insane pursuit to find the truth about Vivar - and escape the jaws of certain death!
Rating:
Summary: Fantastic....
Review: It wasn't until I happened across the the Sharpe series on TV that I realised these books even existed, I collected the video's and am in the process of reading the books, which I can now say are well recommended. Although for me, Sean Bean will always be Major Sharpe in my imagination as I read the books (even such as this one, which hasn't yet been made into a TV drama) - I only think this enhances the experience of reading the books, for they are extremely well written, and on TV, the characters are extremely well portrayed.
Rating:
Summary: Cornwell once again bedevils his readers!
Review: Just a wee bit less gripping than the usual Sharpe fare (perhaps because the Spanish aren't quite as sinister and as tough as the French, and because Cochrane steals some of Sharpe's usual thunder), but the dialogue is fast-paced and the adventure interesting (Cornwell adeptly picked a good historical background on which to work).
Rating:
Summary: Sharpe's Adventures Continue
Review: Sharpe's journey and subsequent adventures in Chile were very informative from a historical perspective and adds another piece to the life of the mysterious man known as Boneparte. While not my one of my favorite Sharpe novels, this book delivers just what the addicted Sharpe fan needs. This being action, adventure, a good battle and of course Sharpe and Harper. An excellent piece of work!
Rating:
Summary: Outstanding Post-Napoleonic Wars Adventure
Review: Six years after the end of the Napoleonic wars, ex-Rifleman Richard Sharpe toils on his French wife's farm in Normandy. Times are a little tough, so when the fabulously wealthy wife of a former Spanish comrade asks him to travel to Chile to find her missing husband, he can't refuse the gold that comes with the request. Naturally, Sharpe rounds up the now-rotund and prosperous tavern-keeper Patrick Harper before setting sail for South America. Their vessel is a Spanish one, ferrying a number of patronizing and foppish Spanish officers who are off to fight the Chilean rebels (who are led by the intriguing half-Spanish, half-Irish gentleman Bernardo O'Higgins). These Spaniards decide to take a minor detour to St. Helena to gawk at the imprisoned Napoleon, and of course Sharpe and Harper can't resist the chance to pay their own respects. The ex-emperor is by now rotting away in his dank mansion, with peeling wallpaper, a poor wine-cellar, and a large British garrison to keep him company. Treated like a curiosity in a zoo, he is disdainful of the Spaniards, but is intrigued by Sharpe and Harper, who are clearly fellow warriors. Cornwell has a lot of fun with this section, as the two old soldiers talk shop, honor each other, and Sharpe, with his customary naivite is unwittingly drawn into intrigue.
Eventually, the ship arrives in Chile, where Sharpe is told the man he is seeking, Captain-General Vivar, is actually dead. Of course, Sharpe is suspicious when a body can't be produced, and soon he and Harper have run afoul of the thoroughly evil Spanish Governor-General Bautista. Events entertainingly run their course, and soon the dynamic duo find themselves on the side of the rebels seeking to eject the Spaniards from Chile. They come under the wings of Admiral Cochrane, a Scottish Lord turned rebel seaman, and all around adventurer. Cochrane is a wildly daring and bold leader, a real life figure of such improbability that many readers will want to rush out and read one of the biographies about his exploits (The Audacious Admiral Cochrane by and The Sea Wolf by being two). Once in Cochrane's company, the action ratchets up until the climactic battle at Valdivia, where the ragtag rebel navy crushed the entrenched and more numerous Spanish defenders in an audacious action, heralding an end to Spanish rule. The rout also allows Sharpe to unravel the mystery of what befell Captain-General Vivar, and of course, exact retribution on the nasty Bautista.
This is indubitably a change of pace and setting from the regular Sharpe books, but a welcome one. As always, the military action is well described, there are evil villains, interesting supporting characters, and a heavy dose of vivid personages from history on hand. It's hard to imagine anyone making the nominally drab topic of Chilean independence come alive more vividly than Cornwell does here. There's a lot packed into this one, and Cornwell even manages to raise the specter of one of history's more interesting "what ifs" via an audacious plot. All in all, great fun.
PS. Anyone interested in St. Helena is advised to read Harry Ritchie's excellent travel book, The Last Pink Bits, which has a good section on how the island fares in modern times.
Rating:
Summary: Woah
Review: The final novel in the Richard Sharpe series, (thus far,) has retired Lt. Col. Richard Sharpe undertaking a mission to find an old friend in revolutionary Chile. With Patrick Harper at his side Sharpe first visits the isle of St. Helena with it's one tourist attraction: the Emperor Napoleon. After a brief audience with Bonoparte Sharpe heads to Chile where he faces the local Spanish Captain-General Bautista. Eventually Sharpe and Harper throw their lot in with the rebels and their rogue of an Admiral, Lord Cochrane. This novel is yet more proof of Cornwell's ability to tell an exciting story while at the same time evoke with absolute vision the early nineteenth century into the reader's mind. I hope this isn't the last book in the Richard Sharpe novels but if it is it is a fitting ending to a series that rank among the great adventure stories of modern fiction.
Rating:
Summary: Sharpe as Ever!
Review: The final novel in the Richard Sharpe series, (thus far,) has retired Lt. Col. Richard Sharpe undertaking a mission to find an old friend in revolutionary Chile. With Patrick Harper at his side Sharpe first visits the isle of St. Helena with it's one tourist attraction: the Emperor Napoleon. After a brief audience with Bonoparte Sharpe heads to Chile where he faces the local Spanish Captain-General Bautista. Eventually Sharpe and Harper throw their lot in with the rebels and their rogue of an Admiral, Lord Cochrane. This novel is yet more proof of Cornwell's ability to tell an exciting story while at the same time evoke with absolute vision the early nineteenth century into the reader's mind. I hope this isn't the last book in the Richard Sharpe novels but if it is it is a fitting ending to a series that rank among the great adventure stories of modern fiction.
Rating: 
Summary: An interesting historical account
Review: The plot assumes that ships could land passengers at St. Helena in 1820 to interview Napoleon. Such was not the case. The British fired on any unauthorized ship attempting to approach the island including, in one case, a ship in distress. Other than that, it is an interesting tale.This is the last novel, chronologically, in the Richard Sharpe series. Sharpe is separated from his wife and living in France with his latest mistress and their two children. His shortage of money indicates his wife in England has everything he stole in Spain. When the Countess of Mouromorto shows up to hire Sharpe to find her missing husband in Chile, his mistress is very receptive to the sight of the money (needed to improve her farm). Sharpe finds himself on his way to Chile with his old friend Patrick Harper, and makes the aforementioned stop at St. Helena to see Napoleon. Sharpe and Harper become involved, unwillingly, in the civil war raging in Chile between the Spanish royalists and the rebels under O'Higgins (supported by Lord Cochrane). Sharpe's fortunes take some twists and turns, as does the plot. The involvement of Lord Cochrane in Chile is described fairly accurately, including the action at Valdivia. Sharpe, of course, gets his share of the spoils. One can hope that Sharpe will fare better with his latest mistress than he has with earlier women in his life. Having Sharpe acquire bags full of loot always creates the possibility of further action (after all, Lord Cochrane did invite him to go along, and we know from history that Lord Cochrane later served in Brazil and Greece).
Rating:
Summary: An interesting historical account
Review: The plot assumes that ships could land passengers at St. Helena in 1820 to interview Napoleon. Such was not the case. The British fired on any unauthorized ship attempting to approach the island including, in one case, a ship in distress. Other than that, it is an interesting tale. This is the last novel, chronologically, in the Richard Sharpe series. Sharpe is separated from his wife and living in France with his latest mistress and their two children. His shortage of money indicates his wife in England has everything he stole in Spain. When the Countess of Mouromorto shows up to hire Sharpe to find her missing husband in Chile, his mistress is very receptive to the sight of the money (needed to improve her farm). Sharpe finds himself on his way to Chile with his old friend Patrick Harper, and makes the aforementioned stop at St. Helena to see Napoleon. Sharpe and Harper become involved, unwillingly, in the civil war raging in Chile between the Spanish royalists and the rebels under O'Higgins (supported by Lord Cochrane). Sharpe's fortunes take some twists and turns, as does the plot. The involvement of Lord Cochrane in Chile is described fairly accurately, including the action at Valdivia. Sharpe, of course, gets his share of the spoils. One can hope that Sharpe will fare better with his latest mistress than he has with earlier women in his life. Having Sharpe acquire bags full of loot always creates the possibility of further action (after all, Lord Cochrane did invite him to go along, and we know from history that Lord Cochrane later served in Brazil and Greece).
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