Seems as if Bernard Cornwell was itching to tackle this most epic of all British naval battles and to do so he manufactured his hero Richard Sharpe into the action. Contrived as it may be,
Sharpe's Trafalgar is one of Cornwell's better efforts writing-wise. Perhaps because he was on unfamiliar ground (the sea), he was probably taking extra care in crafting this book, whereas some volumes in his Sharpe series tend to seem rushed, recycled or carelessly rendered. That's not to say they're not enjoyable action-adventure pieces, but you can tell when Cornwell is really feeling it and when he's going through the motions. However, while
Sharpe's Trafalgar is well-put-together, it is not as much fun a read as others in the series. You see, Richard Sharpe is a soldier, not a sailor. He's out of his element and thrown into a historical setting which is well-known to many (In London there's a wide square and huge monument erected in memorial of the battle and its hero), leaving little wiggle room to change that landscape. Thus Sharpe, the usually active man of action, is more of a sideline watcher and that's not what readers have come to expect.
