Sharpe's Havoc (Reviews)

SHARPE’S HAVOC
Tue 25 Mar 2003
Publishers Weekly

Sharpe fans who may have worried that Cornwell’s popular series was drawing to a close can heave a sigh of relief – the 19th entry (after 2002’s Sharpe’s Prey) brings the up-from-the-ranks rifleman back to the Peninsular War where the series began, among such familiar comrades-in-arms as Sergeant Harper and the “old poacher” Dan Hagman. In the treacherous villain role without which no Sharpe adventure would be complete, the Shakespeare-quoting Colonel Christopher plays both sides of the fence in an effort to contrive a peace between the warring parties that will leave him a rich man. But Christopher hasn’t reckoned with the new British commander, Sir Arthur Wellesley, the future Duke of Wellington, who arrives in time to catch Marshal Soult’s invading army by surprise. A delicious scene at Wellesley’s headquarters, in which Sharpe has to account for his seemingly inactive role, will please aficionados, as will the ringing words with which Cornwell closes his customary afterword on the historical background: “So Sharpe and Harper will march again.”