I read a few of bernard cornwell's books after reading his first arthurian novel, winter king. Now I loved the Arthur trilogy but although I enjoyed some of his other books I stopped after the first Sharpe prequel Sharpe's tiger. This was good. Well written and researched making good use of historical detail. Reminiscent of C. S. Forester's work, the Sharpe books start well. The publication order is very different from the reading order. I did find that after reading a few Sharpe books in a row there was a slight feeling of I've read this before. Enjoyed this one. A familiar but good story told with the usual attention to detail. Good action sequences and some good character moments.