Bernard Cornwell · 2000 · sea

Bernard Cornwell's 2000 novel. In 1805 Ensign Richard Sharpe sails home from India aboard an East Indiaman, only for his ship to be seized by a French warship in the Indian Ocean. Rescued and swept into Nelson's pursuit, Sharpe - a soldier at sea - ends up aboard a ship of the line off Cadiz for the thunderous broadsides of the Battle of Trafalgar.

1. 1
   Bombay

   His Indian campaigns behind him, the newly commissioned Ensign Sharpe boards the East Indiaman Calliope at Bombay for the long voyage home to England and a new regiment, the 95th Rifles.

2. 2
   Cape of Good Hope

   Rounding the storm-battered Cape of Good Hope, the Calliope is run down and captured by the Revenant, a powerful French warship prowling the sea lanes - and Sharpe is taken prisoner on the open ocean.

3. 3
   Trafalgar

   Freed when a British squadron retakes the ship, Sharpe joins Captain Chase's pursuit north - and finds himself aboard a ship of the line off Cape Trafalgar as Nelson's fleet smashes into the combined French and Spanish navy.

4. 4
   England

   His baptism in naval war survived, Sharpe sails at last into an English harbour - a soldier who has seen the greatest sea battle of the age, carrying its secrets and his own hard-won fortune home.