Sharpe's Rifles

Book VI of the Sharpe Series

By: Bernard Cornwell

Narrated by: Frederick Davidson

Length: 10 hrs and 28 mins

Publisher's summary

It's 1809 and the powerful French juggernaut is sweeping across Spain. Lieutenant Sharpe is newly in command of the demoralized, distrustful men of the 95th Rifles. He must lead them to safety - and the only means of escape is a treacherous trek through the enemy-infested mountains of Spain. Blas Vivar and his band of intrepid Spanish soldiers may prove to be their salvation. But Vivar is transporting a mysterious chest that he claims can shift the tides of war, and the French are determined to get it - no matter what the cost.

Don't forget to check out the rest of Bernard Cornwell's Sharpe series.

©1988 by Rifleman Productions (P)1995 by Blackstone Audiobooks

Critic reviews

"Consistently exciting....These are wonderful novels!" (Stephen King)

The Sharpe & Harper friendship

This is one of my favorites of the Sharpe series. The beginning of his fighting the Napoleon wars. hoped that Sharpe's voice had more bass and calm. I always thought that he should sound cool and collected and perhaps a little more Cockney
.ijijijijijij

Outstanding

Narrator is the best. Best Sharpe book yet. Could be an action movie but still keeps all the period flavor.

Enthralling

Fast paced, beautifully written, with characters so well formed, they seem to be right next to me. Full of historic, military, and geographic factoids that enhance rather than burden the tale.

Wrong voice for reader

Reader is entirely wrong for Sharpe - made
him seem like a wimpy Hamlet / plus author forgot Sharpe was married in an earlier book - quite disappointing when compared to Sharpe’s Trafalgar and Sharpe’s Prey

another fun Sharpe story!

This is the story of how Sharpe became a combat infantry officer and gained the trust of his men, including sergeant Harper. A must read for anyone following the series.

Rifles

A great book. I'm not certain why the performer decided to make Harper's voice sound like a leprechaun.

Killer Story, Odd Narration

I love Cornwell’s Sharpe novels, even if they’re the literary equivalent of a John Wick movie. This one is excellent.

The narrator made some... odd choices, however. Still, a solid listen.

Lots of Fun

This was my first book of the Sharpe series, and I enjoyed it very much. I'm looking forward to reading the rest of the books in this series. The story was very exciting and kept me extremely interested all the way through. I highly recommend this one.

A great action adventure novel

Lt Richard Sharpe might have come a long way from India, but a fat lot of good it has done him. A Quarter Master in a retreating army that is being harassed to extinction by the enemy. Of course Sharpe gets an opportunity to shine but first he has to win over lost riflemen who would rather kill him than follow him south. This book is great with bad guys, twists and turns and a victorious end to it all. First book I read of the Sharpe series and still my favourite, although Sharpe's Gold is pretty good. Once you get use to Frederick Davidson narration this book is great. He does the voices really well, although the Spanish and French is a little clique. Bernard Cornwell descriptions in this book are spot on and you are transported back to Spain during the winter of 1808 during the Napoleonic Peninsular campaign and you can feel the cold, hunger and shock of battle. It doesn't get much better than this book but it does!

Great overall

book and performance were outstanding but the audio would cut out intermittently which takes you out of the story