Sharpe's Escape

Sharpe's Escape is the tenth novel in Bernard Cornwell's Sharpe series, finding the hero embroiled in the British retreat through Portugal in 1810 from the defence of the Ridge at Bussaco to the Lines of Torres Vedras, where the French offensive was successfully halted.

Plot introduction

Set in 1810, the novel finds Captain Richard Sharpe threatened as commander of the South Essex Regiment Light Company by the family politics of the Regiment's Commanding Officer. While the British and their Portuguese allies see off the French assault at Bussaco, Sharpe becomes embroiled in a private feud with the criminal Ferragus, whom he pursues from the abandoned town of Coimbra back towards the massive defensive works which Wellington has ordered built at Torres Vedras.

Characters

• Captain Richard Sharpe - OC Light Company, South Essex Regiment. Hero.
• Sergeant Patrick Harper - Sharpe's loyal companion
• Lieutenant Cornelius Slingsby - Sharpe's second-in-command
• Major Ferriara - Portuguese Intelligence officer.
• Sarah Fry - stranded English governess.
• 'Ferragus' - Portuguese criminal, former slave trader.
• Major Michael Hogan
• Colonel William Lawford - Sharpe's commanding officer.
• Captain Jorge Vicente - Portuguese army, Sharpe's friend.
• Rifleman Matthew Dodd - separated from the company during a battle; a homage to C. S. Forester's Death to the French, also known as Rifleman Dodd.

External links

• Section from Bernard Cornwell's website on Sharpe's Escape