England, Summer 1814.
Sharpe returns to England, with his reputation fully restored. He is soon ordered to the North of England to take command of a local militia force in his home town as it is troubled with unrest and machine-breakers. Sharpe finds that he is torn between two sides - that of the corrupt gentry and that of his own people, the rough, tough and spirited masses who are kept down by their superiors. He finds himself faced with one of the hardest decisions of his life.
Major Richard Sharpe
Sergeant Major Patrick Harper
Jane Sharpe
Lord John Rossendale
Matt Truman
Captain George Wickham
Sir Willoughby Parfitt
Lady Anne Camoynes
Saunders
Stanwyck
Daniel Hagman
Sally Bunting
Lieutenant Fosdyke
Whitbread
Mrs. Trent
Arnold
Horse Guards Clerk
Sam West