Historical Fiction Books > S Historical Fiction Books

1809 and all is well...or maybe not!

Advantages: Great Swashbuckling Action!
Disadvantages: After reading this you will spend a fortune on Cornwell's work :-)

...the British Army...in exchange for Sharpe's help in a little side mission, involoving a mysterious strongbox carried by Vivar and his troop of Cacadores (Spanish Cavalry). Sharpe and Major Vivar are shadowed the whole way through the frozen countryside by A French Colonel, D'Leclin and his troop of Dragoons. They seem to be after the strongbox, and Sharpe desperately tries to find out just what is in the elusive box! Sharpe's road finally takes ...
...terrifying odds that will test Sharpe's skills as a leader and a soldier to it's limits! Along the way Sharpe finds, romance, kills his enemies and makes friends with Patrick Harper, who was the main mutineer when Sharpe's men initially rejected his leadership. The book is non-stop action and adventure and is by far my favourite book in the series! Highly enjoyable and very much recommended! ...

rocksthatkill 13.05.2006 · Read full review
Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful
Review of Sharpe's Rifles - Bernard Cornwell

Rows and Romances in the 1950s

Advantages: Believable characters, well-written, interesting social history
Disadvantages: No great depth, nothing much to ponder after reading, no great excitement, takes a while to establish who is who

This is a novel set in the 1950s, about the lives of four eighteen-year-old girls who live in the same street in Swansea. It's in the days when the highlight of the week for girls of this age was the Saturday night dance. It's also at a time when dating was a fairly formal procedure with a definite etiquette, class consciousness was still somewhat strong, and most boys had to do army service. So the setting is historical, but with just the right ...
...I found the characters to be quite believable, although it took me a few chapters to distinguish the four girls completely, and longer still to sort out their parents, brothers and friends. Primarily the book is character-driven, and charts the day-to-day life, family squabbles and romances of these girls. Helen is spoilt and immature, wanting to draw attention to herself and not do any work. Her father is a relatively wealthy clothes merchant, ...

Kukana 23.03.2005 · Read full review
Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful
Review of Swansea Girls - Catrin Collier

Sharp's Havoc

Advantages: hard to put down, intertaing book
Disadvantages: not long enough?? no real disadvantages

i love Bernard cornwell serise on Sharpe and this book was great. i loved the twist and turns what bernard cornwell writes and the cliffhanger forbid me to put the book down untill i had finished it. i am amazed at how persis he writes and that it could all be real. there was no misunderstandin what hapend in the book could of happend in real life and detail is amazin down to the last kock and crannie. i would recomed it to everone even the historinans ...
...grows thoughout the series from a lowely private to a majoir. one mans mishion to better him self and become the best becasue he can break though any boundries. i think that Christopher "the baddie" was brillent as well you could never really now what he was up to so the supence and the mystry sournding him really makes you read on ...

jonnyt123 30.05.2007 · Read full review
Ciao members have rated this review on average: somewhat helpful
Review of Sharpe's Havoc - Bernard Cornwell

It's not bad, but could be better.

Advantages: Richly detailed characters; Great environment; Historically genuine crafts and gears.
Disadvantages: A few boring episodes.

...comes to its end. Stonehenge tells you a story set in ancient England circa 2000 B.C. I thought that the characters were very rich as much in personality as in appearance. In other hand, I preferred the other books cause it was presented more battle campaigns and tons of action. I won't tell much more about it, so it wouldn't be spoiled. Overall, it's not a bad book at all. It have some action, even thought i would ask for more. Fans of historical ...

GCampista 15.06.2009 · Read full review
Ciao members have rated this review on average: helpful
Review of Stonehenge - Bernard Cornwell

Light Up the Shadows

Advantages: Well-written with good plot and characters
Disadvantages: Predictable in places

Shadows and Strongholds is in a class above your average historical bodice-ripper, but falls short of matching authors like Philippa Gregory (one of my personal favourites). Whilst I thoroughly enjoyed reading it, it did tend to be predictable (and even cliched) in places: you could make a pretty accurate guess as to how the characters progress after the first few chapters. Elizabeth Chadwick is a good writer though and parts of this novel are truly ...
...the end, I discovered that Shadows and Strongholds is a prequel to a novel that Chadwick has already written, called Lords of the White Castle. This was based on a 13th Century rhyming story about a real-life family and its leader's success and prowess in battle (Brunin in Shadows and Strongholds is that person as a young man). Chadwick has researched the novel as well as she could, but much of it is fictionalized because there is a lack of information ...

DoubleFantasy11 30.05.2006 · Read full review
Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful
Review of Shadows and Strongholds - Elizabeth Chadwick