It's the hardest winter that Richard Sharpe can remember. And now he has lost command to a man who could buy the promotion that he covets. Hakeswill, his oldest enemy, has joined the regiment and this time he plans to ruin Sharpe for good. Determined to change his luck, Sharpe volunteers to lead an attack on the impregnable fortress – a decision that will lead to either certain death, or possibly heroic glory.