Sharpe's Fortress: The Siege of Gawilghur, December 1803

good value as a used bookgood readhighly recommend as used.fantastic tv show based on it.

In Bernard Cornwell’s “Sharpe’s Fortress,” Richard Sharpe is now an officer following his heroics at Assaye in the previous volume of the series. And he’s uncomfortable with his new status, sneered at by other officers and distant from regular soldiers with whom he has a more natural bond. The British mission this time? Seize the impregnable mountain fortress of Gawilghur from native Mahrattas forces commanded by a familiar (and traitorous) adversary, William Dodd. It goes without saying that Obadiah Hakeswill turns up again too to make life difficult for Ensign Sharpe.As always in Cornwell’s books, the lengthy battle scenes are incomparable—detailed, breathless, brutal, maybe overwhelming. There are memorable characters and moments too. Cornwell fans won’t be disappointed, but the book is maybe a touch too predictable?

I wish I had read the Sharpe series in order but alas I have managed to jump all over the place as I obtained the books. This is the last book that takes place in India and is the first book that Sharpe is an officer albeit as a lowly Ensign. It is 1803 and Sharpe is with Sir Arthur Wellesley’s army closing in on the retreating Mahrattas in western India. The Mahrattas Army has entered the Impenetrable fortress Gawilghur that raises above the Deccan plains. Sharpe is having nothing but problems, his new regiment does not want a maverick Ensign, he is reassigned to the supply train where he finds Sergeant Hakiswill and friends stealing supplies and selling them to the Indian merchants. As you can imagine this leads Sharpe into danger and unwanted trouble, but he is mainly focus on getting into the fortress and killing Dodd the English traitor we encounter in the last book “Sharpe’s Triumph”. Sir Arthur set up to lay siege to the fortress as Sharpe also is seeking a way into the fortress. Cornwell is a master of the battle scene and he is at his best with the siege of Gawilghur. This book also solved my problem from later books in Portugal as to how Sharpe got his telescope from Sir Arthur. At the end of the book Sharpe is being sent to England to join the newly formed rifles in their green jackets. This was one of the books I had a hard time finding but finely got it in e-book format to play on my kindle app on my Ipad. I have greatly enjoyed the Sharpe series and it has frequently sent to off to the encyclopedia to look up information. I really enjoy the author’s note at the end of the book when Cornwell explains where he inserted Sharpe into the real history of the siege of Gawilghur.

This is #3 and the last of Sharpe's adventures in India as a foot-soldier serving under General Sir Arthur Wellesley (later the Duke of Wellington). As usual Bernard Cornwell writes action-packed historical fiction that places Sharpe in the middle of some of the most famous battles in history. This time the action focuses on the Siege of Gawilghur, a virtually unconquerable fortress, where Wellesley succeeded in breaking the back of the Mahratta empire.After saving Wellesley's life during the Battle of Assaye, Richard Sharpe has been given a battlefield commission. While it was Sharpe's greatest ambition to become an officer, he is finding himself alienated from his men who don't consider he is a real officer and from his fellow officers because he is not a proper Officer-and-a-Gentleman (Sharpe is the illegitimate orphan of a London whore who enlisted in the army to avoid prison). Despite this Sharpe starts to show the leadership in battle that will eventually make him one of the most effective officers in the regiment.Once again Sharpe conflicts with his nemesis Sergeant Obadiah Hakeswill who has joined up with an unscrupulous officer in charge of supplies and is selling essential battlefield supplies such as horseshoes and ammunition to the local merchants. When Sharpe hunts down the merchants and defeats this black marketeering, Hakeswill hits back by capturing Sharpe and stealing the fortune in gems that he plundered from Tippoo Sultan in "Sharpe's Tiger".The finale is historical battle action at its best with Sharpe leading the scaling the impregnable walls of Gawilghur and helping to win one of the most decisive and unexpected victories of the Indian campaign. Cornwell has taken some licence with the battle but for the most part the actions are authentic and compelling.This is yet another fantastic historical adventure in the Richard Sharpe series which I have resolved to read in its entirety in the next twelve months.

This kindle copy of Sharpe's Fortress was obviously produced from a Character-Recognition scan of the real book and not from a true electronic copy of the book. It is riddled with incongruous typos and was obviously never proofread before being offered for sale. Quite annoying in the spots where the errors come thick and fast. Nonetheless, the book itself is great. Sharpe at his best, with plenty of battle, treachery and thoroughly satisfying revenge.Thought someone ought to speak up about the quality of this kindle version.

Second time through series. Read first about 15yrs ago and when a new book came out.

A superb edition as the saga continues in the Indian campaigns and Sharpe is forced to face old evil with a new rank. As an ensign, he is low man and subject to every type of distasteful assignment that arrogant officers can command. In addition, old envies arise and it takes an all out attack on a formerly impregnable fortress to bring it all together. Well worth the time.

Read this book in 2006, and its the 3rd volume, chronologically, of the Richard Sharpe series.Still in India and Sharpe promoted to officer, ensign, he finds himself within the army of Sir Arthur Wellesley.When his old enemy, Sergeant Hakeswill, commits an act of treason, Sharpe will be committed to confront and defeat his enemy, and while doing this business he will be pulled towards the horror of the impregnable Gawilghur's ravine.Very importantly is the Siege of Gawilghur, of December AD 1803, and its there where Sharpe has to fight for his life within the army to regain his confidence and authority as an officer.Highly recommended, for this is a tremendous sequel of this great series, and that's why I like to call this particular episode: "Another Thrilling Indian Campaign"!

I decided to buy and read all the Sharpe Books and read them in one go. After a while you get to know an author's style and their writing becomes predictable as well as the general plots. There is some of that with Sharpe mainly because it's based on historical events that tended to be enacted in the same way during that period. But, these are very well written books, good research carried out beforehand and full of little snippets of historical information such as how much pay a private had or the price of a commission in the British army or the quality of food etc.Out of all the books I would Sharpe's Revenge is the weakest, Sharpe's Waterloo is the best and the last book in the series, Sharpe's Devil, is really a bit pointless and flat in comparison to the other books in the series.

In the third book of the Sharpe series, we find an unhappy Sharpe who has found being promoted to an officer is not all it is cracked out to be. Due to him coming up from the ranks he is not accepted by his fellow officers or the rank and file of the army. In view of this he considers the possibility of selling his commission, but eventually does find an opportunity to prove himself in battle but it comes as usual with a high risk of losing his life at the impregnable fortress at Gawilghur. This is another highly entertaining book where again he comes into contact with his old enemies Sergeant Obadiah Hakeswill and William Dodd, the British mercenary. Anybody that has read the previous two Sharpe books will not be disappointed. The book is fast paced, action packed and as usual Bernard Cornwall shows us that he is one of the best writers of historical fiction on the planet. This book can be enjoyed without reading the first two books in the series, however, I would recommend starting from book one. However, I must warn you if you haven’t read Sharpe before this series is highly addictive. I know now I won’t be satisfied until I’ve completed the entire book series.

I am working my way steadily through all of the "Sharp" books, in chronological order. They are all superb - wonderful prose and great historical detail compliment the exciting story telling and the well-drawn fictional characters. I cannot recommend them highly enough. I enjoyed the ITV series of programmes based on the books and they were very faithful to the characters and settings. I only wish that they'd made more. When the programmes were repeated recently on Drama I watched them all over again and enjoyed them just as much - I felt quite bereft when they had finished so sought out the books and I wasn't disappointed.I have never felt a desire to visit India, although my grandmother grew up there when her father was stationed there at the turn of the 20th century, but Bernard Cornwell's descriptions of Gawilghur really made me want to visit the fortress and see the breech in the wall and its seemingly impregnable defences for myself. As much of the story is based on truth I am just amazed by the bravery of the soldiers who took part in these battles.

I confess I had never read a Sharpe novel until I saw the series on TV a few years ago, though I have read andenjoyed the Starbuck series.Since then, I have read a few of the Sharpe series and I downloaded 3 over Christmas onto my Kindle.I give this 3.5 stars because it was an o.k. read and I enjoy Sharpe's insubordinate nature. However, for me it was alittle boring with the guns laying siege to the walls of the enemy fortress, and the enemy firing back. How often canyou describe this?When the book concentrated on Sharpe and his relations to his fellow officers and former colleagues - most of whom resenthim for one reason or other - then the book held my interest. At other times, it didn't.I am sure those interested in the history of India at this time, will enjoy the book very much.I will read the other books I downloaded at some time and review them.