Books: Sharpe Series by Bernard Cornwell (A, H)

The Sharpe series is a set of adventure books featuring Richard Sharpe, an English orphan who joins the army and slowly is promoted through the ranks during the British campaign in India and then the Napoleonic wars. Sharpe is dashing and resourceful and amazingly brave. He is not a perfect hero, but he adheres to his own system of ethics and honor and forms some deep friendships along the way. He's a lot of fun to read, even if the female characters tend to be placeholders. (This must be fiction, though, because after sleeping with all these women he never gets the pox!)

Beginning with Sharpe's Rifles, the books have been made into movies with the wonderful Sean Bean starring as Sharpe. The plots sometimes vary from the books, but the spirit of the stories remains the same. I recommend the movies and the books. Grade: A-

These are war stories, so there is some gruesome war violence, including rape.