Although Sharpe’s Gold is the ninth book, chronologically, in the series, it was only the second Bernhard Cornwell wrote. Aside from demonstrating the cruelty of the guerrilla war pursued by the Portugese partisans, Sharpe’s Gold gives Cornwell an excuse to have Sharpe blow up the fortress at Almeida… while the British and Portuguese are occupying it. In the historical note at the end of the novel, Cornwell acknowledges that the actual cause of Almeida’s destruction remains a mystery. Also, the Gold of the title is stolen from the Spanish to pay for the construction of the Lines of Torres Vedras, a great defensive work north of Lisbon. Nice to use historical fiction to tie up some loose ends. This was a lightning read last weekend.