Cornwell was approached by a production company interested in making television adaptations of the first eight books of his Sharpe series. They asked him to write a background novel to give them a starting point to the series, and they also requested that the story feature a large role for Spanish characters in order to secure co-funding from Spain. The result was "Sharpe's Rifles", published in 1987 and set when the English retreated at A Coruña until Wellesley arrived in Spain. It also resulted in a series of Sharpe television films starring Sean Bean.