Sharpe's Fortress (novel)

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**Sharpe's Fortress**

First edition cover
Author	Bernard Cornwell
Country	United Kingdom
Language	English
Series	Richard Sharpe
Genre(s)	Historical novels
Publisher	Harper Collins
Released	19 November 1998
Media Type	Print (Hardcover and Paperback) and audio-CD
Pages	301 (hardcover edition)) 368 (paperback edition)
ISBN	ISBN 0-00-225631-2 (hardcover edition) ISBN 0-00-651031-0 (paperback edition)
Preceded by	Sharpe's Triumph
Followed by	Sharpe's Trafalgar

Sharpe's Fortress is the third (chronologically) of the Richard Sharpe series, and last of the Sharpe India trilogy, by English author Bernard Cornwell. It tells the story of ensign Sharpe, during the battle of Argaum and the following siege of the Fortress of Gawilghur in 1803.

[edit] Plot summary

Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.

It is 1803 and Sir Arthur Wellesley’s army is closing on the retreating Mahrattas in western India. Marching with the British is Ensign Richard Sharpe, newly made into an officer and wishing he had stayed a sergeant. Spurned by his new regiment, he is sent to the army’s baggage train and there finds corruption, romance, treason and enemies old and new. Sergeant Hakeswill wants Sharpe dead, and Hakeswill has powerful friends while Sharpe has only an orphaned Arab boy as his ally.

And waiting with the cornered Mahrattas is another enemy, the renegade Englishman, William Dodd, who does not envisage defeat, but only a glorious triumph. For the Mahrattas have taken refuge in Gawilghur, the greatest stronghold of India, perched high on its cliffs above the Deccan Plain. Who rules in Gawilghur, it is said, rules India, and Dodd knows that the fortress is impregnable. There, behind its double walls, in the towering twin forts, Sharpe must face his enemies in what will prove to be Wellesley’s last battle on Indian soil.

Cover of the UK Paperback edition

[edit] Characters in "Sharpe's Fortress"

Richard Sharpe – Ensign in the British Army
Sir Arthur Wellesley’s – commander of the British in India
Mahrattas – their Indian adversary
William Dodd – renegade British officer
Ahmed; Sharpe's trusty Arab helper

Spoilers end here.

[edit] Release details

1998, UK, HarperCollins ISBN 0-00-225631-2, Pub date 19 November 1998, hardcover (First edition)
1999, UK, HarperCollins ISBN 0-00-105562-3, Pub date 1 March 1999, Audio book cassette
1999, UK, Chivers Audio Books ISBN 0-7540-5319-9, Pub date ? November 1999, Audio book CD
2000, UK, HarperCollins ISBN 0-00-651031-0, Pub date 6 March 2000, paperback
2005, USA, HarperTorch ISBN 0-06-101271-8, Pub date ? June 2005, paperback
2006, UK, HarperCollins ISBN 0-00-723505-4, Pub date 18 April 2006, paperback (Recent TV tie-in)