Colonel Leroux answered to no man save the Emperor. With exquisite delicacy he could skin a man alive in search of the secrets he held; a parole given in 'honour' was a means to an end. From the first moment Richard Sharpe came across the Frenchman he mistrusted him – and lusted after the sword Leroux had killed so many times with. But at each encounter the Colonel escaped Sharpe with almost contemptuous ease…

Bernard Cornwell mixes intrigue and passion, the heat of war and the cold hatred of enmity, with a sure hand, bringing the Peninsular War vividly, excitingly to life. An enthralling Sharpe adventure to delight the listener.