SHARPE’S FORTRESS

Cape Cod resident Cornwell returns to his Napoleonic Wars series about Her Majesty's rifleman Richard Sharpe. Now an ensign, Sharpe in prequel Napoleonic novels set in India, moves to the Siege of Gawilghur, December 1803, and defends the Crown against the treasonous Sergeant Obidiah Hakeswill and the renegade Englishman William Dodd. Sharpe fans may well recall his joining with Sir Arthur Wellesley (later Duke of Wellington) at the Battle of Assaye in India, a battle Wellington in later years rated above his defeat of Napoleon at Waterloo, in Sharpe's Triumph (1999). Now, the Mahattra fortress of Gawilghur cannot be breached, despite all of Wellington's endurance against savage cannonades from the bastion. Who will find the sneaky way around the fortress and across the Inner Fort's wall? Do you need his initials? Meanwhile, we’re told that the latest installment in the series, Sharpe's Trafalgar (not yet published here), hit the top of every major bestseller list in England and remained #1 for 12 weeks, surpassing Grisham's The Brethren. Twelve Sharpe novels have been filmed by PBS. HarperCollins plans a big relaunch of the series.

Fabulous stuff.