Sharpe's enemy : Sharpe leads a mission to free an English colonel's wife who is hostage to a gang of lawless deserters led by an evil villain from Sharpe's past. Sharpe's honour : When a French spy frames him for dishonouring a Spanish aristocrat's wife, Sharpe faces arrest, duels, court martial and death to clear his good name and avoid damaging Britain's alliance with Spain. Sharpe's gold : Wellington orders Sharpe to trade refles for deserters...

In 1812, after just being promoted to Major, Richard Sharpe and his company is deployed to the Spanish-Portuguese boarder in an attempt to disband a multinational band of deserters, led by his longtime nemesis Obadiah Hakeswill. Planning to outsmart the renegades by taking their position on Christmas Eve, Sharpe is about to be confronted with the fact that he is surrounded by several French battalions.