Sharpe's Fortress

Late 1803. Freshly commissioned, Ensign Sharpe is scorned by his fellow officers and sent to Captain Torrance's baggage train, where Torrance and Hakeswill are selling army supplies. Hakeswill ambushes Sharpe, steals Tipu's jewels and hands him over to the enemy. Sharpe escapes with help from his Maratha friend Sevajee, kills Torrance and makes it look like suicide. Hakeswill deserts to Dodd, who holds Gawilghur, a fortress atop sheer cliffs. Sharpe climbs an unguarded rock face, gets over the wall and opens the gates. Dodd is the better swordsman and cuts his cheek, and Sharpe's servant Ahmed dies attacking him. Sharpe kills Dodd, catches a disguised Hakeswill, takes back the jewels and drives him into a pit of snakes.

1. ChangeDodd's end on TV

   Dodd's death in Sharpe's Challenge comes from this book, but TV moves it to 1817 and to a different fortress.

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2. ChangeBickerstaff for Hakeswill

   On TV, the man who goes over to the enemy is Sergeant Bickerstaff, built from this book's Hakeswill.

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3. Behind the scenesTV tie-in cover

   The book closes the India trilogy. In April 2006, the month of Sharpe's Challenge, it got a TV tie-in edition.

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