The year is 1807; Lieutenant Richard Sharpe is planning to leave the army. Against his better
judgment, he is persuaded to accompany the Hon John Lavisser to Copenhagen in what is essentially
an act of political skulduggery: they are to deliver a bribe and (hopefully) avert a war. But with
the French ensuring that Europe remains at boiling point, Sharpe finds himself protecting his charge
against French agents and struggling to ensure that the Danish battle fleet is not used to replace
every French ship destroyed at Trafalgar. Sharpe is a character we know well and like, and his
customary characteristics (tenacity, bloody-mindedness) are well to the fore here, but, as always,
the other characters are equally strikingly drawn: Lavisser is a splendidly complex figure, as are
several of Sharpe's nemeses. But it's that wonderfully adroit orchestration of action and plot that
keeps the pulse racing, with the bombardment of Copenhagen and the massive bloodshed resulting in a
truly impressive set piece: Sharpe, from his vantage point on the dune, could see the smoke wreathing
the wall. The city's copper spires and red roofs showed above the churning cloud. A dozen houses
were burning there, fired by the Danish shells that hissed across the canal. Three windmills had
their sales tethered against the blustering wind that blew the smoke westwards and fretted the moored
fleet to the north of Copenhagen.

About The Reader
William Gaminara is a British actor and screenwriter, best known for playing pathologist Dr Leo Dalton
in the BBC's Silent Witness (2002 to date). His other television roles have included Will Newman in
Attachments and Dr Andrew Bower in Casualty.Gaminara voiced Dr Richard Locke in the long-running radio
soap opera, The Archers. He has also narrated numerous audiobooks, including several Sharpe novels.

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