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Sharpe's Tiger
Richard Sharpe and the Siege of Seringapatam, 1799
First published 1997 · 480 pages
A gritty, gunpowder-scented plunge into the brutal forging of a legendary soldier.
What it feels like
A visceral, gunpowder-choked plunge into the brutal realities of eighteenth-century warfare, this novel thrives on its relentless momentum and gritty atmosphere. The mood is sweaty and perilous, immersing the reader in a world where survival depends on ruthless pragmatism and sheer bloody-mindedness. The prose is muscular and historically textured, excelling in its depiction of tactical combat, the deafening roar of musketry, and the squalor of army life. It traces a deeply satisfying arc from desperate vulnerability to hard-won triumph, anchored by a fiercely capable but socially marginalized underdog. Fans of immersive, action-heavy historical fiction will devour this propulsive tale of espionage, class resentment, and the bloody forging of a military legend.
- Mood
- sweaty
- tense
- brutal
- perilous
- Tone
- gritty
- pragmatic
- cynical
- suspenseful
- Pace
- propulsive
- Themes
- forging of a hero · survival against the odds · class resentment · brutality of empire · loyalty and betrayal
- The writing
- Muscular, historically grounded, and visceral, with a sharp eye for the mechanics of warfare and combat.
- The arc
- From desperate, low-status vulnerability to hard-won, blood-soaked triumph.
- Who it's for
- Fans of gritty historical military fiction who love underdog protagonists, tactical combat, and immersive period details.
Content notes
- graphic violence
- torture
- animal peril
- colonialism
- gore
About the book
In a battery of events that will make a hero out of an illiterate private, a young Richard Sharpe poses as the enemy to bring down a ruthless Indian dictator backed by fearsome French troops.The year is 1799, and Richard Sharpe is just beginning his military career. An inexperienced young private in His Majesty's service, Sharpe becomes part of an expedition to India to push the ruthless Tippoo of Mysore from his throne and drive out his French allies. To penetrate the Tippoo's city and make contact with a Scottish spy being held prisoner there, Sharpe has to pose as a deserter. Success will make him a sergeant, but failure will turn him over to the Tippoo's brutal executioners — or, worse — his man-eating tigers. Picking his way through an exotic and alien world. Sharpe realizes that one slip will mean disaster. And when the furious British assault on the city finally begins, Sharpe must take up arms against his true comrades to preserve his false identity, risking death at their hands in order to avoid detection and thus to foil the Tippoo's well-set trap.
Description from Open Library.
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