Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0007261896 ISBN 13: 9780007261895

Publisher: HarperCollins Audiobooks,, 2009

The latest of Cornwell's perennially popular Sharpe adventures, returning, like Sharpe's Tiger, to India, and culminating with the battle at Assaye which Wellington considered his greatest victory. Sergeant Richard Sharpe witnesses a murderous act of treachery by an English officer who has defected from the East India Company to join the Mahratta Confederation. In the hunt for the renegade Englishman, Sharpe penetrates deep into enemy territory where he is followed relentlessly by his worst enemy, Sergeant Obadiah Hakeswill. The paths of treachery all lead to the small villiage of Assaye where Sir Arthur Wellesley, with a diminished British army, faces the Mahratta horde. Outnumbered and outgunned, Wellesley plunges his men into the white heat of battle. A battle that will make his reputation, and perhaps Sharpe's too. Soldier, hero, rogue - Sharpe is the man you always want on your side. Born in poverty, he joined the army to escape jail and climbed the ranks by sheer brutal courage. He knows no other family than the regiment of the 95th Rifles whose green jacket he proudly wears.

From the Back Cover:

Sergeant Richard Sharpe is the sole survivor of a murderous attack led by Major William Dodd, a cold-blooded English turncoat fighting for the mercenary forces of the Mahratta confederation. Determined to avenge the deaths of his comrades, Sharpe pursues the traitor deep into the heart of enemy territory, joining the army of Sir Arthur Wellesley, the future Duke of Wellington, in the village of Assaye. For Sharpe will have his satisfaction as, outmanned and outgunned, he and Wellesley's men take on the ruthless Mahratta horde, charging courageously into the white heat of one of the greatest battles of its century.

About the Author:

Bernard Cornwell worked for BBC TV for seven years, mostly as producer on the Nationwide programme, before taking charge of the Current Affairs department in Northern Ireland. In 1978 he became editor of Thames Television's Thames at Six. Married to an American, he now lives in the United States.