Sharpe's Fortress: Richard Sharpe & the Siege of Gawilghur, December 1803 (Richard Sharpe's Adventure Series #3)
Fighting in the millet fields of India circa 1803, Richard Sharpe knows  trouble when he sees it: dissension in the ranks, a feverish and arrogant enemy,  nobody to confide in. Unbeknownst to his comrades, Sharpe has buried a fortune  in booty along the way. He knows his freedom is coming, and it's only a matter  of time before he can feast on the spoils.Sharpe's Fortressis the 17th  in Bernard Cornwell's series starring this colonial British soldier who has  risen in the ranks despite blunders and misadventures, not to mention his own  suspicions of the men around him.Treason, near-death experiences, cannonballs hidden in the tall grass "sticky  with blood and thick with flies, lying twenty paces from the man it had  eviscerated," these are the elements of Cornwell's war stories, which rely  heavily on long, involved--and involving--battle scenes, marvelous description,  and bawdy dialogue in the trenches (a highlight: arguments over whether there's  such a thing as breasts that look like grapes). For readers who hunger for  humorous, complex characterizations, Sharpe proves vivid and three-dimensional.  He holds tightly to his dreams of treasure, eavesdropping on betrayers,  ultimately hatching a desperate plan to make his way to the fortress in the sky,  Gawilghur. Cornwell's hero is an honest soldier, and also a pragmatic one. He  doesn't care as much about the medals and the glory as he cares about dodging  cannon fire and finding a place to sleep.--Ellen Williams--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.