SHARPE’S TRAFALGAR

One might think Cape Cod’s Cornwell is universally admired for his British historicals featuring Richard Sharpe, whose career Cornwell captures in back-and-forth leapfrog fashion from 1799 to 1821, filling in whatever years he chooses (Sharpe’s Triumph, 1999, set in India, 1803). But many international fans complain that their particular country—Holland, France, Spain—has been presented most foully by him, especially at the battle of Waterloo. This one takes up Sharpe’s adventures in Spain 1805 and is the first Sharpe story set at sea (where, Cornwell admits, Sharpe has no place being) and shows how Nelson abandons old methods of attack and chops the French line of battle into three pieces. A mug of port, a wedge of blue-veined cheese, and some hard sea-biscuits for the master.