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This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.

Short Answer Questions

1. What does Wellington order the Earl of Uxbridge to do?

2. What does Sharpe do to the pistol?

3. Where do French skirmishers mount an attack?

4. Upon what does Rebecque give up?

5. Who falls with the heavy cavalry?

Short Essay Questions

1. What stops the French from pursuing the retreating British army?

2. How does D'Alembord's premonition show courage?

3. What explanations about British firing techniques are described in great detail in chapter 15?

4. How do Sharpe and other British officers react to the sight of Napoleon and what might be the intent of Napoleon in that regard?

5. What is one of the most striking differences at the end of a battle and the disposition of the dead between that era and now?

6. What does the author's placement of Sharpe in Chapter 14 do as a narrative device?

7. Why, on the third day, are the French still confident of victory?

8. What type of relationship does the contrast of the two opposing generals have to the two armies?

9. What makes Rossendale feel better about himself?

10. Describe the area where the retreating British army takes up a position in Chapter 10.

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Cornwell has tried as much as possible to use historical events and facts around which to weave his work of fiction. Discuss the following:

1. Do you think this book qualifies as an historical fiction? Why or why not?

2. If many of the events in the book are historical, what surprises you about the way the events play out?

3. Do you think the culture of that era is more or less advanced than you imagined? Explain.

Essay Topic 2

In Chapter 11, the macabre auction of the personal possessions of the dead officers is another example of the brutally simple disposition of the fallen soldiers' belongings and also their corpses. Only the most privileged soldiers and officers will have the benefit of loved ones and servants to seek them out from the vast field of dead and dying when the battle is over.

1. Do you think the treatment of dead soldiers and their possessions in this era meant that people had little value to society as a whole back then? Why or why not?

2. In terms of manpower does it seem to be short-sighted of the ruling class to pay so little attention to the wounded on the battle field? In other words, how many men may have died who could have survived to continue serving in the military? Why or why not would you consider the ruling class short-sighted in regards to wounded men?

3. Compare and discuss the difference in the way wounded are treated in war today as compared to that era.

Essay Topic 3

Before the battle, civilians gathered to watch the fighting. Given war today, this seems a strange custom and dangerous. Nothing is written as to how the civilians of the losing army would be treated.

1. How often do you think "innocent" civilians are killed during a war or conflict?

2. Is it immoral to harm non-combatants during a conflict? What if those non-combatants support their government's policies about the war/conflict?

3. In WWII, the US government targeted two cities in Japan with atomic bombs. The targets were not military targets and the intent was to kill as many people as possible, no matter their age, sex, or status. Is this an acceptable way to end a war?

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