The year is 1812, and Richard Sharpe has one mission: to thwart Napoleon’s dream of empire. Sharpe and the fighting men of the Light Company must gain control of two fortress cities in Spain if Wellington’s army is to stem the Napoleonic tide.

           As the French and the British wage bloody battles on the dusty Spanish roads, the stakes for Sharpe are even higher: Sharpe must secure his infant daughter and her mother, who are trapped behind fortress walls, and protect himself from a fellow officer determined to destroy him.