The Napoleonic Archive
The NapoleonicArchive
The Napoleonic Archive · Fiction

If You Like Sharpe...

The best historical fiction of the Napoleonic era: naval adventures, cavalry charges, and the grand sweep of the age.

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Sharpe fans often want more of the same period: the same mix of action, meticulous history and compelling characters, set against the smoke and spectacle of the Napoleonic wars. This page recommends the best series and standalone novels set in the same era. Every recommendation here has been read and chosen because it shares something essential with Cornwell’s world.

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Take to Sea

If Sharpe’s Trafalgar whetted your appetite for the naval war, these series will keep you at sea for years.

The Hornblower Series

C.S. Forester · 11 novels (1937-1967)

The series that inspired Sharpe. Hornblower is Forester’s creation: a brilliant, self-doubting Royal Navy officer rising from midshipman to admiral through the Napoleonic wars. Where Sharpe fights on land, Hornblower fights at sea: frigates, broadsides, prize money and the merciless hierarchy of the Georgian navy. Cornwell himself has acknowledged the debt. If you have read Sharpe, you owe it to yourself to read Hornblower.

Where to start:Mr Midshipman Hornblower (Book 1)
Book 1Book 2Book 3Book 4Book 5Book 6Complete Collection

The Aubrey-Maturin Series

Patrick O’Brian · 20 novels (1969-2004)

Twenty novels following Captain Jack Aubrey and his ship’s surgeon Stephen Maturin through the Napoleonic wars at sea. Where Hornblower is accessible and fast-paced, O’Brian is richer, more literary, and more demanding, but the reward is extraordinary. Many readers consider this the greatest historical fiction series ever written. Start with Master and Commander and give it three chapters before deciding.

Where to start:Master and Commander
Master and Commander5-Book Collection

The Bolitho Series

Alexander Kent · 30 novels (1968-2011)

Thirty novels following Richard Bolitho from midshipman to admiral. Less well known than Hornblower or Aubrey-Maturin but beloved by naval fiction readers. A good entry point for readers who find O’Brian demanding: more straightforward action, the same period, the same world.

Where to start:Richard Bolitho Midshipman
Book 1
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Back on Dry Land

For readers who prefer their battles on solid ground, these series offer the same mix of action, history and compelling characters as Sharpe.

The Matthew Hervey Series

Allan Mallinson · 16 novels (1999-2018)

The closest modern equivalent to Sharpe. Matthew Hervey is a cavalry officer in the same period: Waterloo, the aftermath of the Napoleonic wars, and the early Victorian campaigns that followed. Where Sharpe is rough-edged and class-resentful, Hervey is a gentleman officer, but the quality of historical research and the quality of the action are every bit as good. Mallinson is a former cavalry officer himself, and it shows. Start with A Close Run Thing, set at Waterloo.

Where to start:A Close Run Thing
Book 1

The Flashman Papers

George MacDonald Fraser · 12 novels (1969-2005)

Twelve novels following Harry Flashman, coward, bully and cad, as he stumbles through every major military disaster of the Victorian era. It begins just after Waterloo. Fraser’s research is impeccable, his humour is savage, and his hero is magnificently awful. Sharpe fans who want something darker and funnier will love Flashman. Not for the easily offended.

Where to start:Flashman (Book 1)
Flashman
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If You Want the Full Picture

War and Peace

Leo Tolstoy · 1869

Not light reading, but if the Napoleonic wars have got under your skin, Tolstoy’s masterpiece is the novel that puts the whole era in perspective. It follows several Russian aristocratic families through Napoleon’s 1812 invasion. The battle scenes are extraordinary. The philosophical sections are demanding. It is one of the greatest novels ever written and it is set in exactly this world.

War and Peace

A Note on Reading Order

Unlike Sharpe, most of these series can be read in any order. That said, starting at the beginning is usually recommended: the character arcs build over time, and the authors wrote them expecting you to arrive at the front door. For Hornblower and Aubrey-Maturin, the first-published novel (not the first in chronology) is generally the best entry point.

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