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)

Historical Fiction at it's best.

I had never read (or listened to) a novel by Cornwell before purchasing and hearing this one. I was instantly hooked and I'm planning to purchase and listen to all of the others offered on Audible. The book was superb, the character development was rich and plausible, and the story telling was excellent. My only disappointment is that not all of the "Sharpe" novels are yet available on Audible (a situation I hope they rectify quickly). I might add that the narration by Frederick Davidson is absolutely fantastic. His ability to mimic almost any voice and accent only adds to the richness of the story. I heartily recommend this book to all.

Lots of adventure.

Great fun, lots of adventure, some history. I liked all of Bernard Cornwell Sharpe's books so much that I was deeply depressed when I finished the last one available at audible. More Please!

Great book, great narration

Wonderful story with a very good plot. I'm really enjoying these Sharpe novels. And Davidson does an a very good narration--I wanted to fight along with Spanish as Davidson was reading the last dramatic chapters.

A GREAT Historical Novel

This was my first of the "Sharpe" series and it was thouroughly enjoyable as well as giving me a great perspective of Spanish history. As an American living tempoarily in Spain I found it accurate and a rip-roaring adventure. I look forward to listening to more books in this series.

Sharpe's Rifles

A rip roaring historical adventure novel, the first in a long series. Sword battering bone, blood & honor, AArrrr... Recommended for guys only, it's lot of fun and you learn some excellent history to boot!

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.

Sharpe and Harper begin

I love the story of the start of Sharpe's friendship with Patrick Harper, and continuing life in this man's army. Excellent narration by Davidson, who I first encountered in the Jeeves stories.

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.

Better by the end

Had just finished Bernard Cornwell's Saxon series and thought I'd check out his earlier works. Took awhile to move from the history of the 900's to the early 1800's but became more enjoyable by the end.

Great story, poorly performed

The story and writing are fantastic, however the performance was so terrible that I couldn’t listen through the whole thing.

The main character’s tone of voice seemed to have absolutely nothing to do with the situations he was in or what he was feeling. It seemed that tones and emotions were randomly assigned to statements, and he comes off as kind of unhinged for that reason, which is definitely not the author’s intent.

The accents were horrible, and the supporting characters weren’t performed with much more sense than the protagonist.

Good book, but I just couldn’t endure listening to this performance.