Sharpe Books

Follow Richard Sharpe from a private serving in India for the British Army, to a staff officer at the Battle of Waterloo, in this epic historical fiction series from Bernard Cornwell (The Last Kingdom). His inspiration was the Hornblower series by C.S. Forester, and he wanted to make an equivalent for the British Army. The character was made famous by Sean Bean in the acclaimed 90s TV series.

The Sharpe books in order

The Prequels: India, Trafalgar & the Siege of Copenhagen, 1799-1807

1. Sharpe's Tiger
2. Sharpe's Triumph
3. Sharpe's Fortress
4. Sharpe's Trafalgar
5. Sharpe's Prey

The Peninsular War, 1809-1813

6. Sharpe's Rifles
7. Sharpe's Havoc
8. Sharpe's Eagle
9. Sharpe's Gold
10. Sharpe's Escape
11. Sharpe's Fury
12. Sharpe's Battle
13. Sharpe's Company
14. Sharpe's Sword
    Sharpe's Command (forthcoming)
15. Sharpe's Enemy
16. Sharpe's Honour
17. Sharpe's Regiment

1814 and Beyond: France, Waterloo & Napoleon

18. Sharpe's Siege
19. Sharpe's Revenge
20. Sharpe's Waterloo
21. Sharpe's Assassin
22. Sharpe's Devil

What order should I read the Sharpe books?

The first Sharpe novel was published in 1981, and since then it has grown to a 22-book series, stretching across more than two decades of history. The Sharpe books have now been republished in their chronological order, making it easier than ever to follow Sharpe's adventures through Portugal, Spain, and beyond. However, the books were written out of sequence, as you will see below.

Sharpe's first published adventure was Sharpe's Eagle, which took place during the Talavera campaign in July 1809. Cornwell originally planned to only write eleven novels, matching Forester, and achieved this with Sharpe's Waterloo in 1990 by publishing a new book every year. The series followed chronologically from Eagle, covering the period between 1809 and 1815, except for Sharpe's Rifles which was a prequel, and is Sharpe's first adventure on the Iberian Peninsula.

However, Sharpe wasn't done with his creator yet. A twelfth novel, Sharpe's Devil, was published in 1992, and picked up the story five years after the Battle of Waterloo, with Sharpe encountering the exiled Napoleon. The TV series began in 1993, adapting the first eleven books along with two original stories. During this time a brand new novel Sharpe's Battle was published, and was filmed the same year (1995).

The final episode of the TV series was released in 1997, as was the first of five prequels to the original series published over five years. The first three follow Sharpe's campaign in India, from 1799 to 1803, and feature the young private a decade before his most famous adventures. The fourth book detailed his involvement in Trafalgar in 1805, and the fifth his actions at the Siege of Copenhagen in 1807. You can read these books first, or you can start with Sharpe's Rifles and come back to them later.

Three further books were published between 2003 and 2006, all set between other novels in the series. After these three books, Cornwell's attention turned to the Saxon Stories. The first of these was published in 2004, and they were later filmed as The Last Kingdom. The Sharpe TV series returned for two final adventures in 2006 and 2008, loosely adapting the Indian trilogy.

The Sharpe book series made a surprise return in 2021 with its 22nd full-length novel, Sharpe's Assassin, set immediately after the events in Sharpe's Waterloo. Sharpe's Command is forthcoming, and is set in 1812 after the events of Sharpe's Sword.

Sharpe Book Collections at Books2Door

Here at Books2Door, we offer the Sharpe series in four convenient collections:

Sharpe by Bernard Cornwell: Books 1-5 Collection

Find out how the iconic Richard Sharpe was forged in these five novels, written by Bernard Cornwell between 1997 and 2001. From battles across India, to his entrance into the Napoleonic Wars, these prequels are the perfect place to start The Sharpe Series.

Sharpe by Bernard Cornwell: Books 6-10 Collection

This collection of Richard Sharpe's adventures takes him from a Lieutenant in an 1809 Spanish winter, through to a Captain at the Battle of Bussaco, September 1810. It includes Bernard Cornwell's first-ever published novel, Sharpe's Eagle.

Sharpe by Bernard Cornwell: Books 11-15 Collection

Follow Sharpe and the 95th Rifles as they fight the French army across the Iberian Peninsula. This collection features the classic Bernard Cornwell Sharpe stories Sharpe's Company, Sword, and Enemy, written in the early '80s and made into episodes of the classic TV series starring Sean Bean.

Sharpe by Bernard Cornwell: Books 16-20 Collection

Richard Sharpe began as a private, serving the British army in India. In this collection of five books by Bernard Cornwell, written between 1985 and 1990, the leader of the 95th Rifles finds himself as a field officer, in charge of a regiment, and a staff officer at the Battle of Waterloo.