Sharpe's Trafalgar (novel)

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**Sharpe's Trafalgar**

First edition cover
Author	Bernard Cornwell
Country	United Kingdom
Language	English
Genre(s)	Historical novels
Publisher	Harper Collins
Released	3 April 2000
Media Type	Print (Hardcover and Paperback) and audio-CD
Pages	288 (hardcover edition)) 384 (paperback edition)
ISBN	ISBN 0-00-225874-9 (hardcover edition) ISBN 0-00-651309-3 (paperback edition)
Preceded by	Sharpe's Fortress
Followed by	Sharpe's Prey

Sharpe's Trafalgar is the 2000 historical novel by Bernard Cornwell. A Sharpe adventure in a different setting. Cornwell blends Sharpe's history into this greatest of Britain's sea triumphs. Sharpe meets a new set of characters, rogues, rascals and heroes, including, a personal meeting with Lord Nelson. He also has a love affair and plays a major role in the battle. Even though it would be highly unlikely that a character such as Sharpe could have been at the Battle of Trafalgar Cornwell makes his presence there plausible.

1 Plot introduction
2 Plot summary
3 Characters in "Sharpe's Trafalgar"
4 Allusions/references to actual history, geography and current science
5 Release details

[edit] Plot introduction

Sharpe's Trafalgar is a nautical adventure that finds ensign Richard Sharpe in the middle of one of history's most historically significant naval engagements: the battle at Cape Trafalgar off the coast of Spain, in 1805.

[edit] Plot summary

Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.

The year is 1805, and Richard Sharpe is headed from India to England aboard the cargo ship Calliope. Also on board is the lovely Lady Grace Hale, whose presence promises to provide intrigue and distraction to an otherwise uneventful voyage home.

Uneventful the voyage is not for the Calliope is captured by a formidable French warship, The Revenant. The French warship is headed to its own fleet, carrying a stolen treaty that, if delivered, could provoke India into a new war against the British.

The arrival of Admiral Horatio Nelson's magnificent fleet results in a breathtaking retelling of one of the most ferocious and one-sided sea battles in European history, in which Nelson, and Sharpe, vanquish the combined naval might of France and Spain at Trafalgar.

[edit] Characters in "Sharpe's Trafalgar"

Richard Sharpe – now an ensign in the British army
Lady Grace Hale – also a passenger on the ship, Calliope
Lord William Hale - British Diplomat
Horatio Nelson – Admiral of the British fleet
Richard Chase - Captain of the Calliope and friend of Sharpe from India

Spoilers end here.

[edit] Allusions/references to actual history, geography and current science

Significantly retold, the novel make numerous references to the 1805 Battle of Trafalgar.

[edit] Release details

2000, UK, HarperCollins ISBN 0-00-225874-9, Pub date 3 April 2000, hardcover (First edition)
2000, UK, HarperCollins ISBN 0-00-651309-3, Pub date 6 November 2000, paperback
2000, UK, HarperCollins ISBN 0-00-105645-X, Pub date 3 April 2000, Audio book cassette
2000, UK, Chivers Audio Books ISBN 0-7540-5400-4, Pub date ? December 2000, Audio book CD