Sharpe's Rifles: The French Invasion of Galicia, January 1809

The Sharpe Series, Book 6

By: Bernard Cornwell

Narrated by: Rupert Farley

Length: 11 hrs and 40 mins

Publisher's Summary

Lieutenant Richard Sharpe and a detachment of riflemen join the assault of a strong French force holding the Holy City of Santiago de Compostela. 

Lieutenant Richard Sharpe and a detachment of Riflemen are cut off from the rest of the army and surrounded. Their only hope of escape is to accept the help of the Spanish, but this assistance comes at a price: to join the assault on the holy city of Santiago de Compostela, held by a strong French force. There is little Sharpe would enjoy more. 

Soldier, hero, rogue - Sharpe is the man you always want on your side. Born in poverty, he joined the army to escape jail and climbed the ranks by sheer brutal courage. He knows no other family than the regiment of the 95th Rifles whose green jacket he proudly wears.

Please Note: The historical note is NOT included in this audiobook.

©1988 Bernard Cornwell (P)2014 HarperCollins Publishers Limited

Critic Reviews

"Sharpe and his creator are national treasures." ( Sunday Telegraph)
"Bernard Cornwell is a literary miracle. Year after year, hail, rain, snow, war and political upheavals fail to prevent him from producing the most entertaining and readable historical novels of his generation." ( Daily Mail)
"Cornwell's narration is quite masterly and supremely well-researched." ( Observer)
"The best battle scenes of any writer I've ever read, past or present. Cornwell really makes history come alive." ( George R.R. Martin)

Rupert Farley bring Sharpe and this story to life.

Bernard Cornwall weaves a tale that is both vivid in its detail and compelling in its characters. Not just with this story but with all his stories.
It is Rupert Farley that brings these great stories to life. His ability to go from a broad Yorkshire accent for Sharpe (that sounds like he’s Sean Bean’s brother) to Spanish, French or any accent makes Rupert a master storyteller.

Exceptional narration

Audiobooks are made by the narrator , Bernard Cornwell’s Sharpe is brought to life by Rupert Farley. I’m reminded of the partnership between Joe Abercrombie’s books and Steven Pacey, Lord of the Rings and Rob Inglis and Harry Potter and Stephen Fry. Hugely enjoyable.

Fantastic

I have grown to love this series of books. They bring history into life like nothing else. The performance of the series is 5stars. Highly recommend the Sharpe series.

Winning Combination

There are some things in life you can rely on. Sharpe, Cornwell and Rupert Farley are three of them. Simply put another fine instalment to one of my favourite series. As we're on book six with this one, if you like the previous five and want more there's no reason to hesitate.

Enjoyable storytelling

Very enjoyable Sharpe story. Plenty of action and heroics. excellent narration - accents, intonation, pronunciation of Spanish and French - Rupert Farley is brilliant. Would recommend if you like good, old fashioned swashbuckling stories.

Another great Sharpe audio book.

I love the Sharpe novels and Rupert Farley does an excellent job of bringing them to life.

My only complaint is the voice of Hagman, for some reason he has been given a Scouse accent, an accent that didn't exist in them days, it would have been closer to a Lancashire accent. The first recorded note a Scouse accent is 1890 and came out of a mix of the Welsh and Irish settlers in the city.

Out performs the TV by a mile

My buckle has never been so swashed. Clearly an early rendering of Sharpe but still welcome for all that. There were a few tricky scenes that my mind had trouble rendering but it was exciting just the same.

Starring death in the face, lighting came.

One of the best endings in the series! And a bit of black humour to boot.
Slow going in parts but we'll worth it in the end, a superbly written book.

Sharpes rifles

Sharpes Rifles was excellent story and told by an excellent storyteller the wrote a wonderful story about the rifles

Superb narration

After all this time a review hardly seems necessary…but if you want a rollicking great story, brilliantly read then this is for you.

Very enjoyable

If you’re a fan of these books then these audible editions are a real find. Historically interesting and very well read, the only problem is I use all my credits on one author!

very poor Cockney accent

Good performance let down by the fact the main character who was raised in London is given a yourkshire/ winterfell accent ( almost as if the character had been based on the series rather than the book)