In a battery of events that will make a hero out of an illiterate private, a young Richard Sharpe poses as the enemy to bring down a ruthless Indian dictator backed by fearsome French troops.

The year is 1799, and Richard Sharpe is just beginning his military career. An inexperienced young private in His Majesty's service, Sharpe becomes part of an expedition to India to push the ruthless Tippoo of Mysore from his throne and drive out his French allies. To penetrate the Tippoo's city and make contact with a Scottish spy being held prisoner there, Sharpe has to pose as a deserter. Success will make him a sergeant, but failure will turn him over to the Tippoo's brutal executioners -- or, worse -- his man-eating tigers. Picking his way through an exotic and alien world. Sharpe realizes that one slip will mean disaster. And when the furious British assault on the city finally begins, Sharpe must take up arms against his true comrades to preserve his false identity, risking death at their hands in order to avoid detection and thus to foil the Tippoo's well-set trap.

FROM THE PUBLISHER

In a battery of events that will make a hero out of an illiterate private, a young Richard Sharpe poses as the enemy to bring down a ruthless Indian dictator backed by fearsome French troops.

The year is 1799, and Richard Sharpe is just beginning his military career. An inexperienced young private in His Majesty's service, Sharpe becomes part of an expedition to India to push the ruthless Tippoo of Mysore from his throne and drive out his French allies. To penetrate the Tippoo's city and make contact with a Scottish spy being held prisoner there, Sharpe has to pose as a deserter. Success will make him a sergeant, but failure will turn him over to the Tippoo's brutal executioners — or, worse — his man-eating tigers. Picking his way through an exotic and alien world. Sharpe realizes that one slip will mean disaster. And when the furious British assault on the city finally begins, Sharpe must take up arms against his true comrades to preserve his false identity, risking death at their hands in order to avoid detection and thus to foil the Tippoo's well-set trap.

FROM THE CRITICS

Philadelphia Inquirer

The world may have a new literary hero. His name is Richard Sharpe.

Library Journal

Cornwell's popular Richard Sharpe novels have marched his army hero through India campaigns and Europe's Napoleonic Wars, while raising him from lieutenant to lieutenant colonel. Sharpe's Tiger goes back to when Sharpe was an illiterate private in southern India in 1799. Despite Sharpe's humble station, Cornwell gives him one of his greatest adventures, making him appear to be a deserter who joins the enemy army of the Tippoo of Mysore. In this precarious position, Sharpe faces not only the danger of being exposed--and possibly fed to tigers--but of being killed by his own countrymen. Throw into this mix his feud with the psychotic Sergeant Obadiah Hakeswill, and we have one of the most gripping and satisfying stories in the entire saga. Frederick Davidson's strong reading makes this a nearly perfect audiobook; another can't-miss acquisition for most libraries.--Kent Rasmussen, Thousand Oaks, CA Copyright 2000 Cahners Business Information.

Internet Bookwatch

In Sharpe's Tiger, Richard Sharpe must fight behind enemy lines as the British army seeks to overthrow the tyrant Tippoo of Mysore and drive his French allies out of India in 1799. Bernard Cornwell is a master storyteller with the ability to rivet his readers attention to his vivid plots, exotic yesteryear scenarios, and memorable characters. This superbly produced, unabridged audiobook edition featured the magnificent narrative skills of Frederick Davidson who truly brings alive the thrills, dangers and plot twists that are the hall mark of Bernard Cornwell's historical adventures.