"It was as if they had been born to the job and it was on the battlefield, where most men thought nervously of their own survival, that Sharpe and Harper came together in an uncanny understanding. It was almost, Knowles thought, as if they were at home on a battlefield, and he envied them." Chap 1, Sharpe's Gold, p. 10.

"They had all heard of him: the man who had captured the French Eagle at Talavera." Chap. 1, Sharpe's Gold, p. 12.

"It was a new badge, commissioned by Lawford after Talavera, and showed an eagle in chains—a message to the world that the South Essex was the only regiment in the Peninsula that had captured a French standard." Chap. 2, Sharpe's Gold, p. 23.

"Lawford was not placated by Sharpe's crestfallen expression, which the Colonel suspected was not motivated by true regret. And do not think, Captain Sharpe, that just because...