India 1803, and Sergeant Sharpe witnesses an act of treachery by an English officer The hunt for the renegade takes Sharpe deep into enemy territory, and behind him stalks his worst enemy, Sergeant Hakeswill, determined to destroy him once and for all The paths of treachery lead to the village of Assaye where the British, outnumbered and outgunned, plunge into the heat of a battle that will make the reputation of Sir Arthur Wellesley, later to become the Duke of Wellington