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Sharpe's Havoc: Richard Sharpe & the Campaign in Northern Portugal, Spring 1809 (Richard Sharpe's Adventure Series #7) Books
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Rating:  -
Picking up where "Sharpe's Rifles" leaves off, this installments finds Sharpe and his unit in Portugal. They've been under the benign command of Captain Hogan, who surveys the land in anticipation of French invasion. Sharpe happily delays arriving in Lisbon and returning to formal army command, which he fears will strip his battlefield command from him to return him to the quartermaster work he loathes.
As Oporto evacuates before the French invasion, they are sent on a wild goose chase to retrieve Kate Savage, the errant daughter of a wealthy British widow, and to accompany the mysterious Colonel Christopher. He's a foreign office representative who doesn't want their company and we soon learn the nefarious reasons why.
Once again they find themselves cut off and surrounded. Unable to find a way across a river towards Lisbon, they must defend the Savage country house against an overwhelming number of French attackers. Sharpe by now has won his men's respect, and they, his. They do notice, as we the readers already have, that Sharpe has one great weakness - falling in love with regularity.
We get our expected dose of great battlefield detail as fortunes surge back and forth between the British-Portuguese alliance and the French enemy. We get another visit from the Foreign Office's fey Lord Pumphrey, who once again has a dicey mission for Sharpe. And, predictably, British fortunes improve once General Arthur Wellesley, Sharpe's reluctant patron, arrives in Iberia to take command.
Historically, this is an interesting period. The Spanish and Portuguese resistance to Napoleon is considered the first guerrilla war, and Iberia is considered to have been his Vietnam - a large land he conquered but could not hold, sapping his strength in the attempt.
Rating: -
I listened to the unabridged audiobook read by William Gaminara.
The story centers around Sharpe's orders to locate the 19-year-old Kate Savage, who has run away from home. Although Sharpe doesn't know it at the time, Kate is seduced by British Colonel Christopher. Christopher wants her inheritance. He's also up to his eyeballs in treason.
It's 1809 and the British army is stationed in Lisbon when Marshal Soult begins the French invasion of northern Portugal. Sharpe battles the French, saves the girl and exposes Christopher.
As with other Sharpe books, this one is an enjoyable, fast-paced romp in history.
Rating:  -
This is another entry on the Sharpe series. It is fun, entertaining and very readable. Cornwell's research is as excellent as usual. He takes some licenses for the shake of the story and continuity, but this is OK. Some people are outraged by the portrait of some of the real historical characters, but historical characters are rarely depicted accurately in historical fiction, so I think this can be forgiven. Besides, usually a more serious account of these characters is given at the end of the book on the Historical Note.
Many people insist in compare this series with Patrick O'Brian's Master and Commander. I don't think this is fair for any of the series, they are different entities. What they have in common is that once you start you may get hooked and devour one book after another...
And in the literary world today that is a rare and marvelous thing.
Rating: -
Sharpe's Havoc is another in Sharpe's Rifles series, this one taking place after the first one, but before the 2nd. In this book, Mr. Sharpe is dealing with the French invasion of Portugal in 1809.
In this tale, Mr. Sharpe and his men are tasked to find Ms. Savage (a British lady who lives in Portugal) before the French seize the area and bring her back to Lisbon. However this is interrupted by Colonel Christopher's orders that Mr. Sharpe and his men to stay in Vila Real de Zedes (a small town in the foothill above Oporto, a major city) with Ms. Savage and to not both the French. However, not everything is as it would seem. I don't want to go into anymore details because it'll spoil the story.
As usual, Mr. Cornwell does an outstanding job of following what occurred and inserting his character at the critical moment. Mr. Cornwell has crafted the book very nicely, the story is interesting and makes you look forward to reading more in the series. A solid 4.5 star book in my opinion, however our friends at Amazon don't let me rate them that way and I can't I give it 5 stars. Sorry for those that follow the Sharpe's series!
Rating: -
Bernard Cornwell's titanic Richard Sharpe series continues with "Sharpe's Havoc: Richard Sharpe and the Campaign in Northern Portugal, Spring 1809." Leading the beefy Irishman Sergeant Harper and the remainder of the 95th Rifles that survived "Sharpe's Rifles," Sharpe finds himself still cut off from the British Army during the Peninsular War. As one can expect from Bernard Cornwell, rollicking adventure ensues.
In "Sharpe's Rifles," Sharpe earned his leadership position with the 95th Rifles, and his hold on his soldiers is stronger here, although by no means complete. And it's fair to say that the Rifles are a wee bit stressed, nearly falling to the French army of Marshall Soult as the French sack the Portuguese city of Oporto. But thanks to Sharpe's courage and notorious luck, the Rifles win through and receive new orders.
Sharpe and the Rifles are to accompany one Colonel Christopher, a Shakespeare-quoting villain from the British Foreign Office. A typically-slick Cornwellian villain, Christopher not only plays both British and French sides for his own profit, he covets the beautiful British ex-pat, Kate. Sharpe, charged with finding the wilful Kate and returning her to her mother, goes into a murderous rage when the cad Christopher marries Kate minutes before Sharpe catches up with her (or so she thinks . . .), only to be even more enraged as Christopher's traitorous nature becomes clear.
"Sharpe's Havoc" provides all the usual thrills and chills in a Sharpe novel. From the sack of Oporto to Sharpe's lonely defense of a hilltop redoubt to a pitched battle against thousands of French troops with Sir Arthur Wellesley to a murderous race through the mountains of Portugal to halt a fleeing French army, "Sharpe's Havoc" has action and to spare.
Look for lots of fun as Irish bait the English, who bait the Portuguese, while everyone hates the dastardly French and their obscene ideas of rationality and reason. Guaranteed to keep the pages flipping quickly, "Sharpe's Havoc" is a darn good read, even if it doesn't really break any new ground for the Sharpe series. Check it out.
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