John Bailie

A young Jew in 1911 Wales tries to make his living by selling fabrics door to door, but to do so he must hide his nationality. On one of his sales he meets and falls in love with a demure young woman with a strong-willed father and a Jew-hating brother. The two fall in love and she becomes pregnant, but only then does she learn of his ethnic background. When anti-Jewish riots break out, the two are forced to flee and become separated.

Doting parents must adjust to life without their children as their offspring leave for college and form relationships.

France, 1815. Sharpe seems to have settled down for life on a tranquil French farm with his new partner Lucille when the sudden news of Napoleon's return from exile compels him to go back to the army to fight in the great Battle of Waterloo. He joins the staff of Wellington's ally, the Prince of Orange. Once again reunited with the Chosen Men, Sharpe abandons his inept commander to organise the defence of the British key positions on the farm of La Haie Sainte and plays a courageous and important role in securing one of Britain's most famous victories.

England, Summer 1814. Sharpe returns to England, with his reputation fully restored. He is soon ordered to the North of England to take command of a local militia force in his home town as it is troubled with unrest and machine-breakers. Sharpe finds that he is torn between two sides - that of the corrupt gentry and that of his own people, the rough, tough and spirited masses who are kept down by their superiors. He finds himself faced with one of the hardest decisions of his life.

Toulouse, April 1814. The Peninsula war is finally over for Britain and its allies, but the action does not end here for Sharpe. He is set up once again by his long-time enemy, the French spy Ducos, and finds himself accused of stealing Napoleon’s priceless treasures. Having been abandoned by his beautiful wife Jane, who returns to England, and persecuted by both the British and French, Sharpe boldly goes in search of both truth and revenge, embarking on a perilous journey across post-war France with the help of his loyal friends Frederickson and Harper.