With Vincente, who readers may remember from Sharpe’s Havoc, Sarah, a governess that Ferragus was going to ill-use, and Joana, a tough little Portuguese who is more than grateful to Harper for saving her from the French, they take off cross country in a race to capture the two brothers before the French catch up with them all. When Sharpe and Harper end up getting cut off from the South Essex, they realize their only hope is to beat Ferragus and his brother back to the lines so that they can tell their side of things. He destroys the food the two men are about to sell, thereby making a vicious enemy out of Ferragus, the privateer who will now do anything to kill Sharpe. It is a cruel tactic, one that drives people from their homes and threatens to kill the citizens as well as the soliders, but Sharpe has his orders. See, Wellington’s big strategy in defending Spain is two fold.one, create a huge barrier across the lands so that the French will come up against it and be stopped two, raze the lands down to the last egg, the last kernel of corn, the last wild rabbit, so that they can find nothing to fill their stomachs with.

Two Portuguese brothers, one a major with the army, one a profiteer, have a plan to sell food to the beleaguered French forces, thereby making a huge profit. Sharpe rightly is a little jealous of his command unlike most officers, he’s had to earn his by shedding his own blood.īut as I imply, Slingsby is far from his worst problem.

Colonel Lawford, usually one of Sharpe’s staunchest allies, has promised his wife that he would help his brother-in-law get on in the army.and so that means sometimes he assigns things to Slingsby to help him become a better officer and he expects Sharpe to help. Richard Sharpe thought his worst problem was sharing his regiment, the south Essex, with Captain Slingsby. Sharpe’s Escape takes us to the Bussaco Campaign of September and October 1810, and is the sequel to Sharpe’s Havoc. (reviewed by Cindy Lynn Speer JUN 01, 2004) ( Jump down to read a review of Sharpe's Prey)

Sharpe's Havoc by Bernard Cornwell