As I progressed through that series, the Cornwell's telling of the
battles became my favorite part. Some of the books were really lazy in
terms of plot, but the telling of the strategies, and events
surrounding the battles the stories evovled around were always
excellent. My personal favorites were Sharpe's Battle and
Sharpe's Triumph, which gave a spectacular and particularly vivid
portrayal of Wellesley's sieges of Ahmednuggur and Assaye. It told of
Sir Collin Campell's heroic efforts as a young lieutenant scaling the
walls of Ahmednuggur, which I found interesting, since Campell would be
a commanding general during the Crimean War, taking part in the battle
of Balaclava. The 93rd Highlanders were under his command when they
stood off the Russian cavalry in the famous 'Thin Red Line' action,
which was the bright spot for the allies in that battle (with the
Charge of the Light Brigade being the dark spot and the event that has
historically defined the battle itself). Kind of neat to get some
personal details about the man in his youth, and how he made his bones
as an officer. He got knocked off the escalade ladder three times,
IIRC, and seriously wounded in the process, but kept coming. I think he
was commanding the Forlorn Hope, in fact.
Cornwell was always good with that, giving us a glimpse of future
war heroes of the 19th century as they might have been seen in thier
youth, or before they became national heros. Then he drops Sharpe right
in there, shoulder to shoulder with them, which drives the plot, of
course.
I enjoyed Waterloo quite a bit too.
I see there's a new book I've not seen before called Sharpe's
Fury, about the Battle of Barrosa in 1811. Must have just come out
recently.