Eventually, the ship arrives in Chile, where Sharpe is told the man he is seeking, Captain-General Vivar, is actually dead. Of course, Sharpe is suspicious when a body can't be produced, and soon he and Harper have run afoul of the thoroughly evil Spanish Governor-General Bautista. Events entertainingly run their course, and soon the dynamic duo find themselves on the side of the rebels seeking to eject the Spaniards from Chile. They come under the wings of Admiral Cochrane, a Scottish Lord turned rebel seaman, and all around adventurer. Cochrane is a wildly daring and bold leader, a real life figure of such improbability that many readers will want to rush out and read one of the biographies about his exploits (The Audacious Admiral Cochrane by and The Sea Wolf by being two). Once in Cochrane's company, the action ratchets up until the climactic battle at Valdivia, where the ragtag rebel navy crushed the entrenched and more numerous Spanish defenders in an audacious action, heralding an end to Spanish rule. The rout also allows Sharpe to unravel the mystery of what befell Captain-General Vivar, and of course, exact retribution on the nasty Bautista.

This is indubitably a change of pace and setting from the regular Sharpe books, but a welcome one. As always, the military action is well described, there are evil villains, interesting supporting characters, and a heavy dose of vivid personages from history on hand. It's hard to imagine anyone making the nominally drab topic of Chilean independence come alive more vividly than Cornwell does here. There's a lot packed into this one, and Cornwell even manages to raise the specter of one of history's more interesting "what ifs" via an audacious plot. All in all, great fun.

PS. Anyone interested in St. Helena is advised to read Harry Ritchie's excellent travel book, The Last Pink Bits, which has a good section on how the island fares in modern times.

There are some strong characters in this too. Sharpe is pretty much the same, as is Harper, apart from now being enormously fat. Napoleon seems to hang over the book like a shadow and I couldn't believe that Admiral Cochrane existed, but according to the historical note he did, and in reality his larger than life persona was even more so.

Cornwell has got it right yet again, a blend of action and adventure in a highly credible historical setting.

Since he did not write all the novels in chronological order I have often wondered how he avoided anachronisms and in this I think I have found one. Sharpe is engaged in what is described as his first sea battle off the Chilean coast. However, as Cornwell has since penned Trafalgar which is set some fifteen years before - I suspect (though I haven't read it yet) Sharpe had some hand in this most famous battle at sea - an error possibly. Similarly Sharpe is amazed that Cochrane met Nelson, I just bet Sharpe has met him too!

Minor criticisms of an excellent book.