Sharpe's Tiger

Bernard Cornwell is a guy you'd want with you on the desert island; he's the consummate story teller and he's prolific, approaching Steven King proportions. This is the first book of the Richard Sharpe saga. He's considering deserting from the army as they prepare to fight the Tippoo of Mysore. He has a run-in with a certain Sgt. Obadiah Hakeswill, who is one of the great villains for which he is punished. He is spared the the full punishment so that he can undertake a dangerous mission that entails penetrating the Tippoo's capital city. The story is riveting and the setting historically accurateas are the details of the soldier's daily life, the buying of rank for the officers, the manner in which combat was conducted, etc. The epilogue discusses the context in which the battle was fought and is eerily reminiscent of current events. The British, wanting to extend and solidify their empire, found a flimsy excuse to wage an unprovoked war on the Tippoo. Draw your own parallels.