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Ed Hahn (USA: MT) (2009/04/15):
It seems that this volume in the Richard Sharpe Series, published in 2006, was written almost as an afterthought. In the Historical Notes, Cornwell admits that, after visiting the Cadiz area, he could not resist writing about one more battle: in this case Barossa.The battle of Barossa happened in 1811, at the low ebb of British fortunes in the Peninsular War. Cornwell's description of it, accompanied by an excellent map, is outstanding. As good as any battle scenes Cornwell has tackled. The story itself is a bit formulaic, although Cornwell's formulas work fairly well. We have the arrogant, spiteful British Officer, General Moon, the evil French Officer, Colonel Vandal, The cowardly and inept Spanish Officer, General Lapena, The beautiful but flawed woman, Caterina Veronica Blasquez, the foppish, untrustworthy British nobleman, Hubert Pumphery, and last, but not least, the unremittingly evil, civilian turncoat, Father Montseny. You can almost guess the plot from the list of characters. There are a few twists to keep things interesting but it was not hard to figure out what was going to happen before it did. Toss in some circumstances to keep Sharpe and his side-kick, Sergeant Harper, in Cadiz when they should be in Lisbon and you have a very readable story. Not as well-drawn as some of the others but fun nevertheless.
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