Sharpe's Prey: Richard Sharpe & the Expedition to Denmark, 1807

This is the fifth (chronologically...they were published in a different order) in Cornwell's series about Richard Sharpe, a soldier in the British infantry during the Napoleonic Wars. As the subtitle says, this episode occurs during the British invasion of Copenhagen in 1807, a seldom-remembered event. Denmark possesses the second most powerful navy in existence after Trafalgar destroyed the French fleet. The Danes are neutral in the wars and have taken their fleet and moored it up in Copenhagen's harbor, refusing to allow either side to use it.

As our story opens, the French have just concluded the Treaty of Tilsit with Russia, one whose provisions states that the Russians will turn a blind eye toward a French move to seize the Danish fleet. The British cannot afford to allow this and demand that Denmark moor the fleet in England for safe-keeping. The Danes refuse. In response, the British attack Copenhagen, shelling—tactics that presage the horrors of warfare a century later—the civilian population of the city with thousands of explosive and incendiary rounds in order to break the Danish will and force them to yield the ships.

Richard Sharpe is sent into this volatile situation in advance on a mission as a bodyguard for Captain Lavisser, who has orders to follow up on intelligence that the Danish Crown Prince is amenable to a bribe. Of course, the reader is aware from an opening scene that this intelligence was faked by Lavisser himself who is a French agent and show more intends to abscond with the £43,000 in gold while opening the city to the French. What follows is an exciting ride through intrigues, betrayals and battles. This book packs a bit more punch than the previous, where Sharpe's actions were somewhat constrained by being at sea.

The overall tone of the book is not as up-beat as some of the earlier stories. When Sharpe enters the book, we learn immediately that Grace died in childbirth and Sharpe is left rudderless: he cannot deal with her absence; he had spent his fortune on property for the family they were starting, only to lose it to her family's lawyers afterwards; he does not fit in as an officer because of his background and sees no future in the Army. The subplot of this story is Sharpe coming to terms with all of this, emerging at the end still sad, but able to let Grace go and throw himself back into life an infanty officer. In addition to Sharpe's personal troubles, new layers (darker layers) are added to his personality as he watches, appalled, the slaughter of the helpless Danes, full of contempt for those who make strategic policy.

A good read. show less

We last saw Sharpe improbably serving as an honorary marine on board a fictional substitute for the ship that came to Admiral Nelson's rescue at a crucial stage of the sea battle at Trafalgar, a hilariously contrived plot in which to find our infantry bastard-hero but still jolly good fun. Sharpe's India adventures thus came to a rollicking closure, and Europe beckons....

As Sharpe's Prey opens, though, Europe, or at least England, has not exactly welcomed our man with open arms -- even though he came home from India a wealthy man (booty and jewels a-plenty!) and an officer to boot. If only that had been all. If only. But alas, the soap opera/shipboard romance/adultery plot that rounded out Sharpe's Trafalgar had its consequences. The upper class hasn't stayed upper by being kind to upstarts like Sharpe, after all. So it is a penniless, cranky, hopeless Sharpe whom we find wandering the streets of London, not even soldiering really as the Rifles regiment to which he was sent has the same prejudice against officers promoted from the ranks as everybody else, and they've made a quartermaster of him. We're off to battle; clean up the barracks, there's a good fellow.

Thank goodness some other good folk returned to England ahead of him, who think well of him as a man of action and effectiveness. Such is Colonel (now General) Baird, whose bacon Sharpe saved in Sharpe's Tiger (at the Siege of Seringapatam), and who, it turns out, has been looking for him for a while, for a special show more mission in which Sharpe shall become a secret agent!

Well, hey, honorary marine, secret agent, not that far of a leap, eh wot?

Soon Sharpe is heading off to glamorous, sunny, uh, Denmark, in the company of a mysterious half-Danish captain, on a mission to prevent the Danes from letting Napoleon have their navy to replace what he lost at Trafalgar. Pretty straightforward, right? Oh, except this captain is a complete bastard in the evil Major Dodd mode. Um. If a man is definied by the quality of his enemies, well, Sharpe is a most fascinating fellow, isn't he? And one who is never more dangerous than when he is completely screwed.

But so most of the action in this book takes place during Britain's 1807 attack on Denmark, which included a land skirmish the Danes remember as the "battle of the wooden shoes" (because so many of those fighting for the Danes were farmer/militiamen who wore those famous Danish clogs to battle) and several days of intense bombardment of the city of Copenhagen. Which is to say everything takes a bit of a darker tone, as a question that looms through the first two-thirds of the novel is whether Britain actually will bomb the city, which is full of women and children.

I don't recall Sharpe or anyone else worrying so much about civilian bystanders in India.

The bombing campaign itself -- shells and mortar rounds fired from huge wallowing British "bomb ships" in Copenhagen's outer harbor -- is described in harrowing detail, enough so to where it might make some readers queasy (as might depictions of how a spymaster gets interrogated by French agents. Pliers and teeth are involved. Ack). There are no strategic maneuvers to trace out on a map here; it's just brute force and siege warfare. It ain't pretty, but that's the way it was, and is. As Sharpe observes to himself as he sails away from the scene of his latest strange adventures, it's a soldier's world, and Sharpe is a soldier, and while he had plenty on his conscience before his Scandinavian tour, he's learned there was plenty more where that came from, and more still to come, for soon he'll be off to the Peninsula (as in Spain and Portugal) and even more war!

Lord, I do love Sharpe. Reading about him that is. I don't think I'd want to meet him in person. No. No, that wouldn't be very nice at all. show less

Lt. Sharpe lost a lot of my respect in the previous book (Sharpe's Trafalgar), but he regained a lot of it--perhaps all of it and even more!--in this book.

It starts off with Sharpe, mourning Grace's death, wanting out of the army. The only thing preventing him from doing so is the fact that he is unable to sell his commission. Since he was given his commission and had not bought it, as a 'proper' officer would have, he could not sell it back. The poor guy is utterly broke, due to legal issues with Grace's family after her death.

He finds his way back to the foundling home where he grew up, and he meets up with the Master. It gets ugly, of course, but Sharpe is protecting a little girl. He does have a soft spot in him, it seems. A likeable character, all in all, even though he can be a brute. But he knows he's a brute, and so does the author, so it's all good.

The story goes along and Sharpe finds himself in Denmark.

This was a really interesting bit... Cornwell showed England as the aggressors in this battle. Denmark was utterly neutral, but because it had a good fleet that France was eyeing, England wanted control of the Danish fleet before France got it. Denmark, being neutral, refused time and again... so the fleet had to be taken from it by force.

Sharpe was in Copenhagen when all this stuff happened, and he was torn between doing a duty that needed done and seeing the Danish people dying when they shouldn't have been. Good conflict, there. It gave Sharpe some extra show more layers in his character, too.

And... the Rifles make a cameo, including Patrick Harper! *squee* The next book, which I have already read but will probably read again, is Sharpe's Rifles, and it shows us Sharpe's inclusion into that group.

Good stuff. I was happy with this one. ^_^ show less

This has been sitting on my Mt TBR pile for a very long time – as best I can recall, at least eight years. I’m not even sure now where I got it from, but I vaguely recall someone giving it to me after I’d been raving over one of Cornwell’s more mainstream historical novels. Suffice to say, it is not the sort of thing I would normally read.

So picture last Sunday – raining, cold and miserable. I planned on settling in for a read in front of the fire, and maybe a nanna nap. I’ve just finished a run of quite large and heavy fantasy books and wanted something light from a different genre. Not sure why this one was what I picked after such a long time, but fate moves in mysterious ways.

‘Sharpe's Prey��� takes place in 1807, a couple of years after the British navy destroyed the French at Trafalgar. Along the way. We learn that Sharpe played an integral role in that engagement too. An old friend sends Sharpe as hired muscle on an important mission to Copenhagen. The Danes, though neutral, had the second-largest fleet in Europe, and the Brits learned that through a super-secret treaty, the Russian emperor gave Napoleon the Danish fleet. (Just think of the arrogance of the Russian and French leaders - giving away a fleet that wasn't theirs!)

So Sharpe is charged with escorting a British agent and 43,000 guineas to Copenhagen as an inducement to the Danes to keep their fleet out of Napoleon's hands. Unfortunately for Sharpe, the British agent is a dastardly and show more lethal fellow named Lavisser, who has no intention of giving up 43,000 guineas or of letting Sharpe get in his way.

The main focus of the tale is on one of the black marks in British history, the firebombing of Copenhagen. As one can expect, the Danes resisted the British overtures and wanted to remain sovereign (recognizing the British offer for what it was). Soon Sharpe is in over his head in a world of spies and double crosses all while the English invade Denmark. What follows is a tale of love, revenge and war, culminated by the British bombardment of Copenhagen, a little remembered event in world history.

Sharpe seems like an early 19th century James Bond, always getting into and out of near-impossible situations, and always seeming to find a beautiful woman to share some time with him.

Cornwell is a master writer in style, depth of characters, and especially in his meticulous research of the period he is writing about. He has a gift for developing little known events in history and embroidering real events and people with people and scenarios he creates. If learning history was always this much fun, I would have paid much more attention at school!

I finished this in one sitting – and skipped the nap all together! I understand this is the 18th book in the Sharpe series. Guess I have a lot of catching up to do. show less

We're still in the sequence of prequels, building up to the Iberian Campaigns, though Sharpe has made it to England and his new regiment, the 95th Regiment, the Rifles, but his past history meant that he'd been assigned regimental quartermaster and left behind when the regiment left for war

Rather miffed at that, Lieutenant Sharpe is ordered to accompany the Honourable John Lavisser on a secret mission to the Danes where Lavisser is to offer a bribe to, ah, encourage the Danes to hand over their fleet to the British - to stop it from falling into the hands of the French, who want the ships to make up their losses at Trafalgar. So Sharpe finds himself mixed up in the murky world of international espionage again as Lavisser sells out to the French and it falls to Sharpe to repair the damage...

The first attack on Denmark, with Vice Admiral Nelson as second in command, is well known - it's where Nelson turned his blind eye, but this later invasion in 1807, is far less well known in Britain and far less honourable in so many ways but Sharpe has his own sense of honour and he does his best to keep hold of it as the people round him lose their way.

Another enjoyable Sharpe historical fiction. The history of the campaign against the Danes at Copenhagen is (presumably) accurate. Like the entire Sharpe series the history of the British forces from India through Trafalger to the Napoleanic battles would be mostly unknown to American readers except for Cornwall's Sharpe series.

Cornwall follows his usual Sharpe formula: lots of violent action, intrigue, Sharpe's attractive influence on a woman, the portrayal of haughty superiors, the practicality of down-to-earth common soldiers and sailors. Not high literature, but fun to read.

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Title: Sharpe's Prey
Series: Sharpe #5
Authors: Bernard Cornwell
Rating: 3 of 5 Stars
Genre: Historical Fiction
Pages: 246
Words: 103K

Synopsis:

From Wikipedia.org

The year is 1807, and Richard Sharpe is at a very low point in his life. His beloved aristocratic lover, Lady Grace Hale, has died in childbirth, along with their newborn son. Her family's lawyers then took all of Sharpe's wealth (loot he obtained fighting in India), claiming it was Grace's and that it now reverts to her family. Destitute and relegated to the menial job of quartermaster, Sharpe is on the streets of London, contemplating leaving the army.

First though, he revisits the foundling home where he was raised to get his revenge. He robs and kills Jem Hocking, his childhood tormentor.

Then a former commanding officer, Major General David Baird, finds him in a pub. Captain John Lavisser was assigned a bodyguard for a secret mission to Copenhagen, but the bodyguard was killed, supposedly by a common footpad, and a replacement is needed immediately. Baird persuades Sharpe to take the job. Lavisser does not want a bodyguard since he already has a huge servant named Barker, but orders are orders. Lord Pumphrey of the Foreign show more Office gives Sharpe a contact in case he runs into trouble.

Denmark is neutral, but has a powerful fleet. Napoleon wants to replace the ships France lost at the Battle of Trafalgar, and Britain is equally determined to see to it that does not happen. Lavisser's task is to bribe the Danish crown prince to hand over the fleet for safekeeping. (Lavisser's grandfather is the prince's chamberlain, and they are also related by marriage.) If that fails, the British will have to seize the ships by force.

When they go ashore in Denmark, Sharpe narrowly escapes being killed by Barker. He walks to Copenhagen and goes to see Ole Skovgaard, the emergency contact. Skovgaard turns out to be the main spy for Britain in Denmark. Meanwhile, Lavisser defects to the Danes and "confesses" that the British have sent an assassin to kill the crown prince. Skovgaard reads this lie in the newspaper and locks Sharpe in a room to await Lavisser. Sharpe escapes just in time. Lavisser turns out to be in the employ of the French; he and his men torture Skovgaard for the names of his contacts throughout Europe. Sharpe manages to kill some of Lavisser's henchmen and drive the rest off. During his stay at Skovgaard's house, he and Skovgaard's beautiful widowed daughter, Astrid, become attracted to each other. They eventually sleep together, and Sharpe contemplates settling down in Copenhagen with her.

When the British besiege Copenhagen, Sharpe joins them. The Danes refuse to surrender their fleet, so the British bombard the city. Sharpe, by now knowing the general layout of Copenhagen, guides a small force to the Danish ships, which have been prepared for burning in case the British break in. The men hide aboard the ships and safeguard them against burning. Meanwhile, Sharpe goes to Skovgaard's, only to find he has been captured and tortured again by Lavisser, who obtains the names of the British spies. Sharpe rescues Skovgaard, kills Lavisser and Barker, and gets the list of names. The city surrenders, and the Danish fleet is captured intact.

Skovgaard will no longer work for the British after what they have done to his city. He also orders Astrid to break up with Sharpe, which she does. Lord Pumphrey has Sharpe sent back to England, as he does not want the rifleman to learn that he must have the Skovgaards killed; they know too much.

My Thoughts:

My issues with Sharpe and his behavior continue and as such I think I'm going to call it quits. I also really disliked that Cornwell, the author, kills off a woman and child to propel Sharpe on his continued path of anti-hero. Just like I discussed last month in the “Project X – V” post, villains are bad, and anti-heroes are not much better in my eyes.

So while the writing is great, the over all story is engaging and very interesting and I like reading these adventures, the in your face immorality of Sharpe and Cornwell's philosophy of anti-hero'ness are too much to overcome.

If neither of those things bother you, then I would recommend trying out this series if you want some action packed historical fiction. If you would like a more positive set of reviews, Jenn at Eternal Bookcase has been reviewing the Sharpe books as well.

★★★☆☆ show less

Sharpe is a great hero. Thirty rats ago I read all the Sharpe books. It’s great to get acquainted with them. This is a story of a conflict between Denmark and Britain during the Napoleanic wars. Britain wanted to keep the Danish fleet away from the French. Sharpe was attached to a man whose job it was to bribe the Danish monarch so he would consent to surrendering his navy to the Brits. The bribe failed and stolen by the man holding it he also tried to kill Sharpe. Sharpe finds a new love and goes after the man who tried to kill him.

#5 in the Richard Sharpe series.

It's 1807, and Sharpe is broke and bitter. After returning to England after the Batle of Trafalgar, he and Lady Grace Hale began living together. But the class difference between them led to social disapproval and shunning. When Lady Grace died in childbirth, leaving Sharpe stricken with grief, the family's lawyers descended like a pack of vultures and stripped Sharpe of all his property, leaving him destitute into the bargain. In addition, he still has not integrated well into the Rifles; the company captain relegates Sharpe to the menial and boring task of quartermaster.

Desperate, feeling that his fortunes can go no lower, Sharpe plans and carries out a daring robbery of a man he hates more than anyone else in the world--the head of the orphanage in which Sharpe grew up. Sharpe intends to take the money and desert from the army.

Hiding in a tavern to escape pursuit, Sharpe suddenly is accosted by Major General Sir David Baird, a Scotsman whose life he saved during the storming of the fortress of Seringapatam in India. Baird has been searching for Sharpe, since Sharpe is exactly the person that Baird thinks can handle an unusual and dangerous assignment: escorting Foot Gruads' Captain Lavisser to Copenhagen, Denmark on a mission to prevent the French from capturing Denmark's navy--by means of a bribe.

The errand seems simple, but Sharpe does not reckon on treachery. Trapped in Copenhagen and a hunted man, he enters a series of adventures show more that ends with the brutal bombardment of Copenhagen's civilian population by the British, possibly the first instance of deliberate warfare on a civilian population to achieve military ends.

In this installment is the first appearance of Lord Pumphrey, and effeminate-seeming but subtle and powerful member of the Foreign Office. Those who have read the Aubrey-Maturin series will remember Sir Joseph Blaine, Stephen Maturin's contact and a decent person. However, Blaine refers to other types in the Foreign Office, and Pumphreys is definitely one of the "others"--ruthless and remorseless behind a smiling and foppish exterior.

The bombardment of Copenhagen is described in detail and leaves nothing to the imagination in terms of the suffering of the civilian population.

As usual, Cornwell has done his research and history comes alive in another very well-written book in this excellent series. Highly recommended. show less

My wife & I watched half a dozen of the movies made from these books back in the mid 90's & liked them. I never got around to reading the books, though. Last year, I somehow stumbled across this one & finally got around to reading it. I waited too long! I'm going to get more of them, starting with the first.

The book was grittier than the movies were, but very well written. Sharpe isn't the nicest guy, but when you find out where he came from & what he's put up with, he's a good man. He's tough & resourceful, but hampered by both his birth & the society in which he lives - England around 1800. The books seem to be historically accurate as far as the major events go. This fictionalized version gave me a great view of the times & an understanding of events that a dry text never would. I highly recommend them & the movies.

Here is a good web site that gives more information on all the Sharpe books & movies:
http://sharpe.wikia.com/wiki/Main_Page

One of the lesser-known (and less than glorious) exploits of British forces gets the typical Cornwell treatment. Stellar as usual, but Harper is sorely missed.

This is my first disappointment in the Sharpe series.

It started out so good too. It is a dark book overall as Sharpe wrestles with the loss of his love Lady Clarke. Cornwell reveals the problem in little bits at a time which I find very interesting. His loss of his lady and the loss of his money combined with a less than successful experience with the Rifles drives Sharpe to despair.

I liked the book to the point where he leaves for the secret mission to Copenhagen. At that point the book loses its flavour. The romance with Astrid falls flat, the plot is thin, even the reunion with Captain Chase is bland. The plot moves too quickly and the detail that I love in the battles is missing. It seemed to me that the author was in a hurry to finish the book.

About the British bombardment of Copenhagen in the year 1807. The Danish fleet was desired by both the French and ourselves and it was hoped that the Danes would hand it over to the British without the need of force. This was not to be and British forces devastated the city and killed many of the inhabitants. Not one of our best moments I feel.
Bernard Cornwell has once again combined fact and fiction to make another exciting adventure for his hero Richard Sharpe.

I was a bit MEH on this one. Even more unlikely than usual and the instalove even more eye rolling - Mr Cornwell - you can write a book without a love interest for Sharpe you know! Just OK.

Though not the best in the Sharpe series, Sharpe’s Prey is solid with action and adventure throughout. Taking place in 1807 our hero once again finds himself riding shotgun, and with a seven barreled gun almost literally, on the coattails of the soon to be Duke of Wellington. I found this fifth book in the series a bit lugubrious but all in all a decent ride.

A better quality Sharpe. The follow-up to Nelson's attack on the Danes is obscure enough for our working class hero to have a wonderful time.

Didn't care for this one nearly as much as its predecessors. I sympathized too much with the defenseless residents of Copenhagen, I suppose. Still, it was interesting learning about this little known episode.

Another Sharpe book that hits the ground running. We're in Denmark now and Sharpe is already fighting hard. Can't wait to turn the pages!

*later*

Finished. Very unlike other books. Not as entrancing... and yet, I finished it (in print) in 8 days. On to "Sharpe's Rifles"!

Always fun, you can always cound of Sharpe and Cornwall for a ripping good yarn.

Not my favorite of the Sharpe novels, but I'm reading them in order, so ...

A good read but it seemed too easily resolved.

This goes for all of the Sharpe books, and probably for all of Cornwell's books - 5 stars. Historical fiction doesn't get any better than this!

Love the Sharpe series of books as much as I loved the TV series!

Lent to Andrew Robson 16/2/24

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