Sharpe’s Tiger recap

In 1799 Private Richard Sharpe, trapped in the 33rd Regiment and persecuted by Sergeant Obadiah Hakeswill, plans to desert in India with Mary Bickerstaff. Hakeswill instead engineers a savage punishment for him. Colonel Arthur Wellesley stops the flogging and recruits Sharpe for an intelligence mission: he and Lieutenant William Lawford pose as deserters, enter Tippoo Sultan's besieged capital of Seringapatam, and try to reach the captive officer Hector McCandless. Inside the city they serve under the Frenchman Colonel Gudin, learn of a mine intended to destroy the British assault, and survive Tippoo's attempt to dispose of them. Sharpe escapes, helps thwart the trap, and fights through the city's fall. Tippoo dies during the capture of Seringapatam, and Sharpe secretly takes a store of jewels. Hakeswill survives, while Sharpe chooses the army over desertion and wins promotion to sergeant.

In 1799 the 33rd Regiment is campaigning in Mysore. Private Richard Sharpe is tired of brutal discipline and sees no future beyond service in the ranks. He plans to desert with Mary Bickerstaff, whose knowledge of India makes a life outside the regiment seem possible. Sergeant Obadiah Hakeswill, who has long hated Sharpe, watches him closely and uses Captain Morris's indifference to tighten his control. Hakeswill provokes a confrontation that leaves Sharpe accused of a grave military offense. The planned escape collapses as Sharpe is placed at the mercy of a system in which a private's word carries almost no weight against a sergeant and an officer.

Sharpe is sentenced to a flogging severe enough to kill him. After two hundred lashes, Colonel Arthur Wellesley intervenes, having identified Sharpe as a possible asset for a mission inside Seringapatam. An East India Company officer, Hector McCandless, is captive there with information about the fortress's defenses. Sharpe is paired with Lieutenant William Lawford, and the two are to pose as British deserters. Lawford's rank must be concealed, leaving him dependent on Sharpe's knowledge of soldiers and survival. As they prepare and move toward enemy territory, Lawford starts teaching Sharpe to read, while Sharpe teaches the lieutenant how to make their deception convincing.

Sharpe and Lawford enter Seringapatam by presenting themselves as deserters willing to fight for Tippoo Sultan. The city's defenders include Mysorean troops and Europeans led by Colonel Jean Gudin, a French professional who values their apparent military usefulness. The two Englishmen must perform their new allegiance under observation while searching for McCandless and learning how the fortress will meet the expected assault. Sharpe's low rank makes his disguise natural, but Lawford must suppress the habits of an officer. They discover a city strained by siege and by Tippoo's suspicion, where a careless word can expose both the mission and those who might help them.

Inside the fortress, Sharpe and Lawford make contact with Hector McCandless and piece together the danger facing the British assault. Tippoo has prepared more than walls and guns: a concealed explosive trap is intended to destroy troops once they commit themselves at the breach. Appah Rao and other figures within the defense have their own fears and divided calculations, but none can act openly under Tippoo's scrutiny. Sharpe and Lawford's supposed desertion comes under increasing suspicion. Their intelligence is now vital, yet carrying it out of the sealed city is nearly as difficult as reaching McCandless was.

Tippoo's suspicions harden and Sharpe and Lawford are placed in mortal danger rather than simply imprisoned. They survive the ruler's attempt to kill them and work toward escape as the British army prepares its storming columns. Sharpe's priorities narrow to freeing himself, protecting Lawford and McCandless's information, and reaching the mine before the attackers enter its killing ground. Outside, the assault cannot wait for certainty. Inside, loyalties fracture as defenders decide whether Tippoo can still save the city. Sharpe is forced to rely on the same aggression and instinct that army discipline has always punished in him.

Sharpe escapes into the battle for Seringapatam and prevents Tippoo's prepared mine from slaughtering the British assault force. The attackers force their way through the defenses and the city's organized resistance collapses. Sharpe encounters Hakeswill amid the confusion, but his enemy survives, leaving their private war unresolved. Tippoo Sultan is killed near the inner defenses as his capital falls. Sharpe secretly takes valuable jewels from the dead ruler, acquiring a hidden independence unimaginable to the private he was at the opening. Lawford survives and now respects Sharpe as a partner in the mission. Mary also lives, but Sharpe's experience changes his choice: instead of deserting, he remains in the army and is promoted to sergeant, beginning a rise founded on his talent as a soldier.

The British assault breaks into Seringapatam after Sharpe escapes Tippoo's custody and prevents the prepared mine from devastating the attackers. In the fighting he confronts Hakeswill but fails to end their feud. Tippoo Sultan is killed near the inner defenses and the city falls, completing the British victory over Mysore. Sharpe takes jewels from the dead ruler, giving him a private reserve of wealth that he conceals from the army. Lawford survives the mission, and the experience has made their relationship one of mutual respect rather than the usual distance between officer and private. Mary survives but does not share the military future Sharpe has chosen. Sharpe abandons his plan to desert and is promoted to sergeant, the first step in a rise made possible by the soldiering talent the mission revealed. Hakeswill remains alive and determined to destroy him.