An honored veteran of the Napoleonic Wars, Lt. Col. Richard Sharpe is drawn into a deadly battle, both on land and on the high seas.

In 1820, Richard Sharpe has become a peaceful farmer following Waterloo, but comes out of retirement to undertake a perilous mission. He must find Don Blas Vivar, Captain-General of the Spanish colony of Chile and an old friend, who vanished without a trace half a world away.

With intrepid Irishman Patrick Harper at his side, Sharpe embarks on a dangerous journey that carries him first to an unexpected interview with Napoleon, then on to Chile, a land seething with corruption and revolt. But when fortune delivers him into the hands of Lord Cochrane, the legendary rebel genius, the real battle erupts. On land and at sea, Sharpe faces impossible odds, not only against finding Vivar, but against surviving in a time when tyranny rules, injustice abounds-and Napoleon lurks on the horizon, itching to rekindle the world in a blaze of war.