Sharpe’s Rifles: The French Invasion of Galicia, January 1809. Bernard Cornwell

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Название Sharpe’s Rifles: The French Invasion of Galicia, January 1809
Автор произведения Bernard Cornwell
Жанр Приключения: прочее
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isbn 9780007338733



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      SHARPE’S

      RIFLES

      Richard Sharpe and the French Invasion

      of Galicia, January 1809

      BERNARD CORNWELL

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      logo200 Copyright

      This novel is a work of fiction. The incidents and some of the characters portrayed in it, while based on real historical events and figures, are the work of the author’s imagination.

      Published by HarperCollinsPublishers Ltd

      1 London Bridge Street

      London SE1 9GF

       www.harpercollins.co.uk

      First published in Great Britain by Collins 1988

      Previously published in paperback by Fontana 1989

      Copyright © Rifleman Productions Ltd 1988

      Map © John Gilkes 2011

      Bernard Cornwell asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this work

      A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library

      All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this ebook on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins ebooks

      HarperCollinsPublishers has made every reasonable effort to ensure that any picture content and written content in this ebook has been included or removed in accordance with the contractual and technological constraints in operation at the time of publication

      Source ISBN: 9780006176978

      Ebook Edition © JULY 2009 ISBN: 9780007338733

      Version: 2017-05-06

      Sharpe’s Rifles is for Carolyn Ryan

      ‘Sharpe is the epitome of a nineteenth-century, romantic working-class hero. Cool, flash and fragrant … Escape and enjoy’

       Daily Express

      Table of Contents

       Cover

       Title Page

       Copyright

       Dedication

       Epigraph

       Map

       Prologue

       Chapter One

       Chapter Two

       Chapter Three

       Chapter Four

       Chapter Five

       Chapter Six

       Chapter Seven

       Chapter Eight

       Chapter Nine

       Chapter Ten

       Chapter Eleven

       Chapter Twelve

       Chapter Thirteen

       Chapter Fourteen

       Chapter Fifteen

       Chapter Sixteen

       Chapter Seventeen

       Chapter Eighteen

       Keep Reading

       Historical Note

       Sharpe’s Story

       About the Author

       The SHARPE Series (in chronological order)

       The SHARPE Series (in order of publication)

       Also by Bernard Cornwell

       About the Publisher

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      PROLOGUE

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      The prize was a strongbox.

      A Spanish Major was struggling to save the box, while a chasseur Colonel of Napoleon’s Imperial Guard had been ordered to capture it. The Frenchman had been unleashed to the task; told that he could destroy or kill whatever or whoever tried to obstruct him.

      The strongbox itself was a chest made of a wood so old that it appeared as black and shiny as coal. The wood was bound with two iron bands that, though pitted with ancient rust, were still strong. The old chest was two feet long, eighteen inches wide, and as many inches high. It was locked with two hasps that were fastened with brass padlocks. The joint