Product Description
Currently seen as one of Hollywood's favourite villains, Sean Bean's life is traced from its working-class roots through to his successful TV and film career. Interviews with friends and family give insights into the actor's life and explore how he balances life between the large and small screen. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (7)

Bean Fest - Bean There, Done That
There isn't any really deep analysis of Sean Bean as a person. Next to nothing about his childhood is in the book, nor any photos of him as a kid. The author had no access to his relatives, and only interviewed a teacher of his from primary school and his drama teacher from Sheffield.

Primarily this is a good book for his devoted fans who want a good chronological account of his acting work and very superficial details about his life. The author was not granted an interivew with Sean Bean,nor any of his relatives or very close friends. It's not an official biography. Jackson interviewed people who worked with Bean, and slight acquaintances, but none of his close friends gave her quotes.Bean is well known for being absolutely silent about his personal life which he assiduously guards.....and that's part of his charisma.What Bean holds back is what makes him so fascinating.He gives 1,000% in performances, and really that is ALL he owes the public.

The photo section is very skimpy, you can get much better pictures of Bean online at various fan sites such as "The Compleat Bean". Reading this book made me convinced the author simply sat down and read every article, website and watched taped interviews of the star to compile her book because she was denied interviews with those people closest to her subject. Because she doesn't have the astuteness to extrapolate all those sources and create a psychological profile - you finish reading the book wondering....great actor - but what is he REALLY like?

Nearly every single interview of people who worked with Bean all say the same thing, namely that he is shy, soft spoken, has genuine humility, extremely polite, good hearted, a little awkward with people he doesn't know well, really a sweetheart of a guy, loves beer, football, smoking and he doesn't emotionally bond well with women....it's his male friends he's closest to....an adoring father who was forced tobe separated from his wives and three adorable daughters for long periods of time while filming movies. Hence, his three divorces.

He's had a terrible personal price to pay for his success as an actor, yet the author doesn't even write about this which is a major factor in his life.I didn't want her to slink to the level of tabloid gossip and "dish dirt" I just wanted some semblance of an anyalsyis of the man as a person.The book reads more like a resume of his work......without much "meat" about him as a person to fill in the blanks.

Well, you can get that same information from just going online and reading media/magazine/newspaper archives at "The Compleat Bean" and save yourself the cost of the book.For goodnss sake, don't pay $80.00 for it!It's also posted as selling for over $200.00!

The back of the book has an excellent very detailed index and an accurate precise listing of all his films, narration work, television and theatre performances.I've been a great admirer of his work for 20 years, dating back to 1986 when I first saw him perform as an unknown in the film "Caravaggio".Although I know nearly everything ever written about him, reading this book actually did fill in some bits and pieces of information about him.No earth shattering revelations - but a nice, easy read.

A very kind British friend gave me this book as a gift because I had such a hard time locating it online in the USA and didn't want to pay a fortune for it. It's out of print and very hard to find. I've seen it sell in the USA for $40.00 to $80.00 and consider myself a very lucky lass to receive it free.Depending on if you are bonkers for Bean-o would determine how much you're willing to pay for the book.

The author doesn't really dig too deep and only has flattering postive things to say about the star, she comes fairly close to crossing the line into a pure "gush-fest".The book makes you believe he is just nearly perfect.He's only human and everyone has positive and negative aspects to their nature.I wish this book had more substance and gave me a more authentic portrait of him.

On the other hand, "Sharpe Cut - The Making of Sharpe's Challenge" published in 2006, by Linda Blandford skewers Bean to bits. That author doesn't like him one little bit, she makes this quite clear to the reader. Blandford nitpicks about trivial things she views as huge character flaws of Bean's and spends most of the book "Bean Bashing" then 3/4 through the book admits he's won her over, sheerly on the professionalism and devotion to his craft he exhibits on the set. Known for his introverted reticence and ability to completely avoid answering personal questions he doesn't want to reveal about himself.....Bean more or less didn't trust Linda Blandford because she had written a previous article him that was quite cruel, negative and hurt his feelings deeply.Yet, his tremendous charm and personal warmth eventually wins Blandford over and she almost begrudgingly admits she likes him at the close of the book.

I wish that a really skilled writer would create a book somewhere in the middle between these two books about Sean Bean.Not a "gushfest" nor a hatchet job......but a work that would give the public a genuine understanding of what makes him tick and his interior dialogue.....he's almost Garboesque in his need for absolute privacy about his personal life, which is what makes Sean Bean so refreshing - unlike some of the publicity hounds that are celebrity actors - he comes across as a pretty normal bloke, who just happens to be a world class actor.He's got no interest in "making the scene" or having a flashy, glitzy high profile life....this is not an actor pursuingthe "Bling Bling" lifesytle. He enjoys being an internationally known star and the perks that come with it, but seems to have a good head on his shoulders and keeps things in perspective.Probably this accounts for how Bean's been able to maintain a solid career as a working actor in a very ruthless, competitive industry for well over 25 years.

Blandford book and Jackson's book are both flawed - but both are a good read for true Bean Buffs."Sharpe Cut" has more facts about filmaking/television industry which give you a really strong background and she really makes a point of criticizing Bean - Jackson's book is more a chronological citation of the work of the star - with very little personal insight into his personality.Read both books and come to your own conclusions.

Best thing about this book.......well it would have to be Sean Bean's wicked sexy smile on the cover in the sepia tinted photograph.I've been dying to find a copy of that photo that doesn't chop off part of his face....anybody know where to find it online?I've been searching for ages to get a full version of the book cover photograph!This guy has definitely got sex appeal galore........I call him "Lord Sexitude" and he can knock on my box any day of the week.......the only middle-aged guy with lots of wrinkles I am bonkers about!

not for sale
I read this book because I ordered it from an inter library loan. It is not for sale through Amazon much to my disappointment. The book is a good overview of Mr.Bean's work in films. It does not offer anything else.

Interesting read but...
Laura Jackson does get some of the details wrong, like stating that Sean Bean divorced his first wife after moving to London to attend at RADA. In reality, they split before. However, she provides an overall well-rounded portrait of the actor, which makes for an interesting if rather quick read. There are several pages of colour photos as well, an added point of interest, and fascinating details about several of Sean Bean's projects. How many people know that several of the cast of Sharpe got very ill from the Ukraine catering?

If you're looking for a book to fill in the gaps on your knowledge of this actor, or just something to while away a lazy summer afternoon, this one will do quite nicely. And the cover alone is gorgeous - surely Sean Bean should get an award for Best Smile of the Year?

Great title no content
I have been a fan of Sean Bean for some time -from the first time I saw the Sharpe series through the Robert Lovelace/Clarissa role and the odd villainous appearances.I don't generally read biographies of actors but thought since he'd portrayed such an interesting variety of characters that there would be an interesting person behind them. However, I wouldn't know if there was or not. He seems to have led an interesting life but there really isn't a shred of the man himself in this book.

Maybe it's too much to expect - I wasn't looking for dirt but I was certainly looking for substance and found nothing."Everyone likes him, he's a man's man, he's a great actor".The book leads you to believe that he had about as much depth as a cereal bowl and I tend to think that there's more to this actor than that.I found it very vacuous.

Great for Fans who are new to the world of Sean Bean
As I am a relatively new devotee to the works of Sean Bean (FOTR), I found this a wonderful guide to his past roles.Although it does not delve very deeply into Sean as a person, it is a very useful travel guide to the World Of Bean.Also very nice to know that there are some actors who like "real" women & not skeletons! ... Read more

Product Description
High Quality Content by WIKIPEDIA articles! Shaun Mark Bean (born 17 April 1959) is an English film and stage actor. Bean has also acted in a number of television productions as well as performing voice work for computer games and television adverts.His first popularly successful role was his portrayal of Richard Sharpe in the British television series Sharpe, based on the Bernard Cornwell novels. A a year later, his portrayal of the love interest in the Ken Russell film Lady Chatterley earned him additional attention as a sex symbol. Since then he has become well known internationally for his roles as Boromir in The Lord of the Rings, and has developed a Hollywood niche as a villain in James Bond's adversary Alec Trevelyan in GoldenEye, Nicolas Cage's competitor Ian Howe in National Treasure, psychotic IRA fringe terrorist Sean Miller out for revenge on Jack Ryan in Patriot Games. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Scamming Sean Bean Fans
Don't waste your money!I don't understand how anyone can justify charging such an outrageous amount for a collection of Wiki pages.High quality content my arse! ... Read more

Product Description
Chapters: Michael Palin, Gordon Banks, Joe Cocker, Def Leppard, Sebastian Coe, Sean Bean, Jarvis Cocker, Derek Dooley, David Mellor, Helen Sharman, Joe Scarborough, Joe Simpson, Brendan Ingle. Source: Wikipedia. Pages: 113. Not illustrated. Free updates online. Purchase includes a free trial membership in the publisher's book club where you can select from more than a million books without charge. Excerpt: Sebastian Newbold Coe, Baron Coe, KBE (born 29 September 1956, and often nicknamed "Seb Coe") is a former athlete and politician from the United Kingdom. A middle distance runner, Coe won the 1500 m gold medal at the Olympic Games in 1980 and 1984, and set eight outdoor and three indoor world records. He is widely considered to be amongst the greatest middle distance runners of all time. Following his retirement from athletics, he served as a Member of Parliament for the Conservative Party from 1992-97, and became a life peer in 2000. He is the head of the London bid to host the 2012 Summer Olympics, and, after the International Olympic Committee awarded the games to London, became the chairman of the London Organising Committee for the Olympic Games. In 2007, he was also elected a vice-president of the International Association of Athletics Federations. Coe won four Olympic medals and set eight outdoor and three indoor world records in middle distance track events (and also participated in a world record relay). His rivalries with fellow Britons Steve Ovett and Steve Cram dominated middle-distance racing for much of the 1980s. Coe was born in West London, but was brought up in Sheffield attending Tapton and Abbeydale Grange schools. He joined athletics team Hallamshire Harriers at the age of 12, and quickly became a middle-distance specialist. He is probably better remembered as representing Loughborough University and later Haringey when not competing for his country. He was coached by his father, Peter Coe, who designed...More: http://booksllc.net/?id=412054 ... Read more

Product Description
Les achats comprennent une adhésion à l'essai gratuite au club de livres de l'éditeur, dans lequel vous pouvez choisir parmi plus d'un million d'ouvrages, sans frais. Le livre consiste d'articles Wikipedia sur : Naseem Hamed, Sean Bean, Justin Wilson, Gordon Banks, Michael Palin, Malcolm Elliott, John Fowler, Sue Mappin, Antonia Susan Byatt, Francis Leggatt Chantrey, Samuel Plimsoll, Jessica Ennis, Margaret Drabble, Herbert Chapman, Judy Parfitt, Derek Bailey, Harry Brearley, Joe Cocker, John Hoyland, Jarvis Cocker, Steve Clark, Matt Helders, Alex Turner, Graham Fellows, Howard Wilkinson, Sheila Sherwood, Roger Taylor, Anthony Browne, Steve Peat, Dominic West, John Gatenby Bolton, Neil Warnock, Henry Goodman, Michelle Behennah, Albert Quixall, Frank Barson, Laurie Scott, Martin Powell, Joe Simpson, Stuart Zender, Mel Sterland, William Bullock, Ludwig Glauert, John Du Prez, Victor Burgin, Nick O'malley, Peter Glossop, Raby Howell, Henry Clifton Sorby, Adam Blythe, Helen Sharman, Leonard Cockayne, Simon Stainrod, Dudley Hardy, Ted Burgin, Tony Oxley, Oliver Atkinson, Rip Hopkins, John Obadiah Westwood, Joe Elliott, Jamie Cook, Paul Goodison, Malcolm Bradbury, Bernard Rands, Arthur Lismer, Jonathan Forte, Jeff Rawle, David Blunkett, William Sterndale Bennett, Richard Hawley, James Stuart Blackton, Paul Grist, Rick Savage, Henry Shaw, Andy Nicholson, Nick Matthew, Geoff Nicholson, Charlotte Hudson, Pete Willis, Jean Balguy, Ann Lee. Non illustré. Mises à jour gratuites en ligne. Extrait : Naseem Hamed est un boxeur britannique né le 12 février 1974 à Sheffield (Angleterre) devenu champion du monde des poids plumes. Ses parents sont d'origine yéménite et ont émigré à Sheffield. Hamed a adopté le qualificatif de "Prince" et également le surnom de "NAZ". Il est connu pour son style flashy et arrogant, ses entrées spectaculaires sur le ring. C'est un gaucher et son attitude de boxe est peu orthodoxe avec des positions de buste très p...http://booksllc.net/?l=fr ... Read more

Product Description
Contains excerpts from classic stories for younger listeners, presented with classical music and sound effects. They include "Pinocchio", "Peter Pan", "King Arthur", "Tales from the Norse Legends", "Anne of Green Gables", "The Railway Children", "Kidnapped" and others. ... Read more

Product Description
Seringapatam is an island citadel surrounded by tigers, belonging to the Tippoo of Mysore. The British are keen to remove the Tippoo from power, and Sharpe and a young lieutenant infiltrate the Tippo's forces. However, once inside the citadel Sharpe realizes that catastrophe waits for the British. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (103)

What am I missing?
Wow -- everyone loves this but me!I don't get it -- I read Cornwell's Agincourt right before this book, and they're almost identical books.Pretty much the same characters in the same situtation -- just 300 years apart.The same lead character, the same female companion, the same strong leader, the same completely evil villian.....it really lacks creativity for me.The good are completely good, and the evil are completely evil -- I've seen more balanced characters in a Steven King novel.On top of that, the coincidences in this book are outrageous.How many times can the hero and the villian happen to accidently run into each other all over India?

I enjoy learning about the British army and their battles in India, but the writing seems very lazy and schlocky to me.

Wonderful fun
This series has multiple books spanning the career of Richard Sharpe, a soldier from the ranks who becomes a war hero and eventually a colonel.It has spawned a series of well loved specials on the BBC and picked up in America by PBS.This book is the beginning of Sharpe's career.

It is a great read -- well written, suspensful and fun.You know Sharpe is going to triumph, because that is the name of the next book.But it's a great ride getting there.

He's smart, heroic and you can see why the video adaptations are so popular -- sex appeal.Let's face it, Richard Sharpe is the sterotypical heroic male.

There is a great deal of research behind these historical novels, but truly they are popular because following Richard Sharpe's exploits just sucks you in and you want to hear more.

Great author + lousy publisher = mediocre ebook
Just finished the Kindle edition. I was saddened to see a good author's craft ruined by truly horrible editing. The publisher screwed this one up so bad it was painful to read. The book is full of errors that should have been caught in the most superficial edit. I suppose that PerfectBound and Harper Collins simply scanned a printed copy of the book, pushed the electronic result through a spell checker, and published it. There are fifteen places where the scanner obviously misread "the" and got "die". Because of the lack of an edit, that's how it was published. And that's only one example.

Publishers have a duty to their authors and readers to faithfully reproduce the author's work. When they fail the author loses fans and, presumably, money. To have to pay ten dollars for a book that looks like it cost almost nothing to publish reflects on the greed of the publisher.

Soldiers and whores
This exciting story about horrible things happening to not so good of a guy half makes me wish to go to India and get a whore and shoot up a city.

Sharpe's Tiger
Product was exactly as described in Amazon.com and seller shipped it promptly.
Great service. ... Read more

Product Description
These stories tell how, many years ago, Arthur, the once future King of England, set out to save his country from the troubles that plagued it, aided by the brave knights of his Round Table and the most famous sword in the world, Excalibur; how Merlin the Wizard fought against the wicked Morgana le Fay's enchantments; and how arthur loved and lost the beautiful Guinevere, his Queen. Presented with music by Elgar, Sibelius and others ... Read more

Customer Reviews (20)

okay
This story is beyond little kids, so I don't think it should be marketed to that population with the CD for kids learning to read.It also is very confusing in the plot in parts, at least for a child to follow.

A Delight
I was always intrigued by this story.It was very well written.This CD offers the story told with the lush and sumptuous voice of actor, Sean Bean. Not a bad deal for the price I paid.Let's be frank on this one.Mr. Bean could read the phone book and make it sound wonderful.I couldn't go wrong with this purchase.

More Fine Storytelling
Sean Bean's performance plus three other Naxos AudioBooks are available in the collection Epic Adventures: King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table; Robin Hood; Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court: The Prince and the Pauper (Naxos Classics) [AUDIOBOOK] [SPECIAL LIMITED EDITION] (Audio CD)by Benedict Flynn (Author), Mark Twain (Author)

All four audiobooks are $15.59.

King Arthur scores on the roadway
What a pleasant surprise to come across this CD - I very much enjoyed it. Sean Bean can act but he also has an engaging manner of storytelling.His voice and characterizations are the perfect catalyst to spark the imagination and retain the attention of the listener.This story is ideal for travel with children: It's a terrific alternative for those without the luxury of a built-in or portable DVD player in their car, or parents like me who are just thrilled to find an alternative to watching television rather than the scenery.Disney soundtracks and tapes of other stories for children have saved my sanity on the roadway for years. Definitely a pleasure to add King Arthur to my arsenal.I hope to hear more stories from Sean Bean, they're very enjoyable for Mom, too!

A Superficial Retelling of the Arthurian Legend
Having read the other reviews, I feel as though I must offer a dissenting view.Most of the other reviewers enjoyed the way Benedict Flynn set out the whole King Arthur legend in an easy to follow narrative aimed at children.To do this, Flynn had to boil down the story to its most simple elements.

In my opinion, this reductionist approach is the wrong way to introduce young children to one of the great stories of Western Literature.It is better to cull out individual stories from the legend and present them with all their rich details.Good examples of this alternative approach are David Borgenicht's "The Legend of King Arthur" and Margaret Hodge's "The Kitchen Knight".I believe the best way to get children to love King Arthur is to hook them on great individual stories. When they are older, they will string these stories together themselves with more sophiticated retellings of the legend. ... Read more

Product Description
The first footballer ever to be knighted, the first European Footballer of the Year (at 41), and now an ambassador for football all over the world, Stanley Matthews is truly a sporting legend who will be forever remembered for his performance in the Matthews FA Cup Final of 1953, when he inspired Blackpool to victory over Bolton. But THE WAY IT WAS is not just the fascinating memoir of a great footballer, it is the story of an extraordinary life. Stanley recalls the time when as a member of the England team he had to give Hitler the Nazi salute, and when he swapped stories with Ronnie Biggs whilst in Brazil as a coach. Full of warmth and humour, this wonderful autobiography will be treasured by all generations of football-lovers. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Fine detailed account of yesteryear by a major sports figure
Stanley Matthews memoir is filled with meticulous details of a bygone era. I'm under the impression that Matthews in British sport must hold a place similar to the way we see some of our baseball legends, something like that. The breadth of detail is in fact a bit cumbersome and at times, maybe dry, I really think the book should be read alongside Matthews' contemporaryTom Finney Autobiography which has a nice easygoing flow to it and is highly readable compared to this one. Still, it easily merits a top rating.

Matthews accounts are of the utmost intimate matters, as an example:playing a Match against Nazi Germany in May, 1938 before a crowd of over 100,000 people in Berlin. The English players actually gave a Nazi salute before the game and there is a famous photograph of this. In this book, you will find out what was going on behind the scenes and I will say here, it was for diplomatic reasons, maybe a bit in the "peace in our time" vein.

You will find out in those early days of International soccer, these fixtures were regarded comparable to the World Cup or Olympic games, whereas some tournaments were boycotted back then or not even attended at all with the ominous signs of war growing in Europe and around the world (One source, Wangerin's "Soccer in a football world" states that the latter is precisely why the USA did not go to the 1938 World Cup). Qualifying for these tournaments must not have been fully developed at this time.

The summer of 1939 saw a similar incident, as the English team went into Milan to play the Italian team, the streets were filled with thousands of well-wishers. In the hotel lobby was a contingent of Maltese fans expressing their support for the 3 Lions buoyed it seems by an uneasy feeling of vulnerability to the Axis powers, Germany and Italy. In this famous game at the San Siro stadium, just like in the 1934 World Cup where referees were suspended for aiding Italy in its wins, this game again, saw farcical refereeing by a German to aid the host team (expounded on brilliantly in articles by the BBC). In reference, the movie Victorywith Pele and Stallone is not really far from the truth in that game it portrays. The game ended 2-2 and the Crown Prince of Italy even sent the English FA a letter offering to reverse the result, there was some sort of controversial goal but the FA accepted the original result without further actions.

Matthews playing in the service during World War II, Matthews receiving a bit more than a pick me up from a doctor during his career when the flu bug bit (sounded like he was describing an amphetamine like product which he claims was done only one time or so) and in fact, even Matthews playing until he was seventy years old and yes, retiring due to injury are all covered in this book along with apparently Matthews being a bit of a health nut way back in the day, maintaining a healthy diet and not drinking. One will also read of other major sports figures of the day, Dixie Dean the scoring-machine and of course, one reads of Matthews professional career mainly with Stoke City and Blackpool

The editorial reviews above reads: "'A gracefully crafted autobiography filled with entertaining anecdotes reflecting an age when the game was uncorrupted by greed and hooliganism' -- Birmingham Post

Okay, basically right but it was not uncorrupted as before a players' union was set up in England, the owners were the benefactors of much of the revenue and players were largely chattel

An extraordinary memoir found in these pages is the account of the Burnden (fire) stadium tragedy which demonstrates that events like Hillborough were not the first time events like this that had marred the sports scene though it seems to largely be the last time an event of that magnitude happened. A need for change was seen necessary for the general safety of the public.

I upped this to 5 stars because though, it is long and detailed, it really serves also as a very valuable reference in addition to being the autobiography of a man who Pele says "showed us how to do it."

Wonderful History
What a wonderful memoir.
Stanley Matthews was one of the greatest footballers ever, and in this book tells his story with humour, but without the bravado of our era.
He gives us lovely images of the players of his time, and the games they played.
Makes one wish that one could go back in time. ... Read more

Product Description
Richard Sharpe believes that his soldiering days are over, but his retirement is interrupted by a request from Donna Louisa Vivar for Sharpe to discover the truth about the disappearance of her husband, the Captain-General of Chile. Sharpe's quest takes him to St. Helena and an encounter with Napoleon, and on to Chile where he soon finds himself caught up in the rebellion against Spanish rule and fighting alongside the flamboyant rebel admiral, Lord Thomas Cochrane. "Sharpe's Devil" is an adventure story in the classic tradition - a tale of loyalty and treachery, secret scheming and daredevil exploits, and bloody battles fought at sea and on land. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (20)

Richard Sharp finale
This book is the 21st in the entire series regarding the military and personal life of Richard Sharp. The book ends the series and many hours of reading pleasure authored by Barnard Cornwell and the adventures, trials and tribulations of Richard Sharp. It was a bittersweet ending to a series of books that I read "straight through"....21 different novels in a row.All enjoyable and historically informative.This last one was as good as any other...easily read, enough action and intrigue to keep your interest and just enough history to broaden your mind and perspective.I have now gotten the Saxon Series to read but taking a quick detour into Stonehenge...which is also very good.

Cornwell is one of my favorite authors.

Highly Dubious Authorship
This is easily the worst of the Sharpe novels. I've read every one of Bernard Cornwell's books, most of them several times, and I frankly don't believe that he was the main author of this one. The plot is lame, the action unconvincing, and most of all the prose is stilted and inappropriate, lacking almost all of the drive and energy of ALL the other books. It just doesn't read like Cornwell at all; the action is nothing like what we are used to, the characters lack conviction, and Sharpe and Harper simply don't act, sound or respond like the two men we know.

My guess is that an editor was responsible for most of the work. You can write an addition to a series, use all the same characters, but that's not enough. Examples are to be seen in LeBeau's splendid Buckskin novels and those after the first 12 - check these out, you won't be sorry - Ruth Plumly Thompson's Oz works; and at least one of the Travis McGee books, which just doesn't ring true. Anyone feel the same way?

sharpe's Devil
Very good - consistent with the foregoing books.Waiting for more in the series.

Sharpe Meets Napoleon in Exile
"When the devil had finished every temptation, he left Him until an opportune time." -- Luke 4:13

It takes a special imagination to find a way to write another Richard Sharpe novel after Napoleon was soundly defeated at Waterloo, but Bernard Cornwell's fertile mind has conjured up a tale to bring back that intrepid hero for one last hurrah (at least for now). Sharpe is a farmer now until he's pulled out of retirement to look for one of his old compatriots from the Napoleonic wars in Spain, Don Blas Vivar, who has been leading Spain's efforts in Chile to fight off rebels.

Sharpe and Harper join a group of Spanish officers headed for Spain. On the way, they take a detour to visit Napoleon in exile on the island of St. Helena. If you've wondered what would happen if Napoleon and Sharpe ever met, this book will satisfy your curiosity.

Once in Spain, Sharpe finds himself in over his head and is soon sent packing as a pressed seaman on the very ship that just brought him from Europe. But at this point, the adventure takes a positive turn as Sharpe develops a new and unexpected ally among the rebels. The second half of the book recounts the kind of daring fights that made this series so appealing . . . combining land and sea forces in this case.

You'll probably guess the story's outcome before the end, but that won't spoil the fun very much. With the final historical note, you'll also be left with some very interesting "what if's" to ponder.

This isn't one of the best books in the series, but it's a must read for all Sharpe fans due to the meeting of the two retired soldiers in the middle of the Atlantic.

Good-bye for now, Richard. It's been fun reading about you.

Sharpe meets two mesmerizing characters: Napoleon and Cochrane
A few years after Waterloo, Sharpe is called away from his quiet farm existence to answer the plea of a widow: to find her husband, Sharpe's old friend Blas Vivar from the Spanish wars, who has gone missing while commanding the beleaguered Spanish forces in Chile, Spain's last and shrinking bastion in South America. She suspects foul play, as her upstanding husband went after the corruption endemic in the colonial administration.

Accompanied by Harper, Sharpe sets off on the long voyage around the Horn. One stop on the way is St. Helena, where he meets the exiled Napoleon and is mesmerized, despite himself, by the former emperor. Napoleon wants Sharpe to carry a souvenir to someone in South America. Does he have one more ace up his sleeve?

In Chile he and Harper get an uneasy reception. Blas Vivar's replacement, Miguel Bautista, is widely feared and busy feathering his own nest in anticipation of Chile's fall and his return to Spain. Bautista in turn fears Charles Cochrane - the legendary captain fleeing British disgrace to command the tiny navy of the fledgling Chilean republic. Bautista needs to dispel rumors that he engineered Blas Vivar's disappearance, but meanwhile can't have Sharpe and Harper poking around.

The last chronologically in the Sharpe series, this book makes a fine capstone, our probable last look at Sharpe. We finally get to meet Napoleon. Letting Sharpe feel the man's sway is a courageous and honest thing for Cornwell to write. It would have been too easy to turn Napoleon into a 2-D villain.

And the encounter with Cochrane is fascinating. Jack Aubrey fans can consider this book one last Aubrey novel as well, since, as they know, Cochrane was the inspiration for O'Brian's Aubrey, and also for Forrester's Horatio Hornblower.

Cochrane isn't identical to Aubrey; he is so willing to make the bold stroke that some think he's mad, something no one ever accuses Aubrey of. But Cochrane is nearly as mesmerizing as Napoleon. He's a brash and happy warrior, a magnetic leader whose men plunge into battle chanting his name. Give him something impossible to do, and he couldn't be happier, and when he succeeds, he just burnishes his legend and cements his men's affections to him even more. When Sharpe and Harper fall into his company, they find themselves going into battle one last time, with someone more on Sharpe's wavelength than any commander he's ever had. The battle of Valdivia has a certain mad quality to it as Cochrane attacks against overwhelming odds. (Of course, he has Sharpe on his side. So what's the problem?)

A great episode that dramatizes some of the great history of Napoleon's last days and the fall of the Spanish empire.




... Read more

Product Description
Sharpe's Tiger tells the splendid tale of the Siege of Seringapatam, when Sharpe was an ordinary trooper. Sharpe's Triumph is a magnicicnet novel of the British in India, and of the battle which Wellesley, the Duke of Wellington reckoned to be his greatest achievement. In Sharpe's Trafalgar, Sharpe returns from India to London to join the newly formed Green Jackets in Britain, but on his voyage home terror strikes on Sharpe becomes imprisoned on the Ile de France, doomed to rot there until the war ends. ... Read more

Product Description
This Audiofy audiobook chip packs Sean Bean's full 2.5 hour reading of "King Arthur and Knights at the Round Table" on a tiny memory card. A single Audiofy audiobook chip, hardly larger than a stamp, holds a complete digital audiobook, and saves the last listening position automatically, unlike CDs. With an SD memory card slot or low-cost adapter - like those for digital cameras - this Audiofy audiobook chip can be played on Microsoft Windows and Apple Macintosh desktop computers or laptops (Microsoft Windows XP/2000/Me/98, or Apple Mac OS X 10.3.9 and above) or transferred to Apple iPod media players. Audiobook chips also move seamlessly to most Palm OS and Pocket PC handheld PDAs with SD expansion slots, as well as Treo and Windows Mobile "smartphones" (Palm OS 5.2 or Windows Mobile 2002 and above)... These stories are about how, many years ago, Arthur the once and future King of England, set out to save his country from the troubles that plagued it, aided by the brave knights of his Round Table, and the most famous sword in the world, Excalibur; how Merlin the wizard fought against the wicked Morgana le Fay's enchantments, and how Arthur loved and lost the beautiful Guinevere, his Queen. ... Read more