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Sharpe's Havoc
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Plot Summary of Sharpe's Havoc
"

HarperCollins, Apr 2003, 25.95, 306 pp.
ISBN: 0060530464

In 1809 in the Iberian Peninsular, though isolated from his side's main forces, Richard Sharpe and his unit defend Oporto, Portugal from Napoleon's armies. The city and the surrounding area are home to the famous red wine and numerous influential English red wine-exporting families. His superior Captain Hogan assigns Richard to keep safe the House Beautiful wine heiress Kate Savage and keep an eye on slick Colonel Christopher.

As Richard and his commandos perform their current mission, the French attack them. Portuguese irregulars led by philosopher poet Lieutenant Vicente save the beleaguered English. The two units consolidate heading to Kate's winery only to arrive, as she is to marry treacherous Colonel Christopher.

In his eighteenth appearance as a soldier during the Napoleonic Wars era, Sharpe lives up to his name, retaining a keen freshness as he battles the French and the bureaucracy. The tidbits from history, of which there are plenty, are brilliantly interwoven into the taut story line so that the audience receives a smooth plot yet know what is fact and what is Bernard Cornwell's vivid imagination. Anyone who relishes the era, enjoys war stories, or is a historical buff should read the Sharpe novels that bring in focus the realistic atrocities of battle as few novels short of All's Quiet on the Western Front has achieved.

Harriet Klausner
"

Harriet Klausner, Resident Scholar



Review Analysis of Sharpe's Havoc
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Ratings are on a 1-10 scale (Low to High)
Plot

Composition of Book
descript. of violence and chases - 10%
Planning/preparing, gather info, debate puzzles/motives - 40%
Feelings, relationships, character bio/development - 30%
How society works & physical descript. (people, objects, places) - 20%




Tone of story - suspenseful (sophisticated fear)
Time/era of story: - 19th century
War Thriller Yes
Armed Forces: - Army
Kid or adult book? - Adult or Young Adult Book

Main Character
Gender - Male
Profession/status: - infantry soldier
Age: - 20's-30's
How much violence does he/she use? - just the right amount
Ethnicity/Race - British
How sensitive is this character? - middling sensitive to others' feelings
Sense of humor - Mostly serious with occasional humor
Intelligence - Smarter than most other characters
Physique - very athletic

Main Adversary
Identity: - Male
Age: - 40's-50's
Profession/status: - mastermind
How much of work is main antagonist actually present in: - a moderate amount
Motive of antagonist - power
How sensitive is this character? - hard edged
Sense of humor - Cynical sense of humor
Intelligence - Smarter than most other characters
Physique - average physique

Setting
Europe Yes

Style
Person - mostly 3rd
Accounts of torture and death? - generic/vague references to death/punishment
How many deaths? - 8 or more
Amount of dialog - significantly more dialog than descript
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