Bulletin Board

I love finding out about the 'Dark Ages', the wild & wonderful period between the departure of the Romans and the Middle Ages. Unfortunately I just can't cope with the level of violence in your books. Of course I don't imagine everything was nice, it's just the relish with which it's related and the loving detail. Ugh!
Angela Rigby Doble

Went to order your latest novel, 1356, as an eBook for reading on my Kindle (the only way I read these days), only to find that Harper had priced the eBook essentially the same as online merchants are selling the print edition.  Thus, I won't be buying 1356, and will add this novel to the list of others I am boycotting until such time as publishers and authors recognize that eBooks are less expense to produce and distribute, and are willing to share the resultant savings with readers rather than trying to exploit those of that have converted to the new electronic format.

William Thompson

Dear Bernard.

Just re-read 1356 for about the third time since receiving it for Christmas, you have done it again! Absolutely stunning, love the way some old familiar characters cropped up, a little known period in my historical knowledge has been opened up. Must go, something has been on TV regarding Waterloo, so I'm back with Richard Sharpe re-reading what must be the finest fictional account of the battle. As Churchill used to say 'KBO', roll on the next Uhtred.

Many thanks from Bulgaria.

Roy

Dear Mr. Cornwell,
I just wanted to drop you a quick email to say thank you for doing what you do.  I am new to your work but have rapidly become a fan.  I read Sharpe's Tiger about a year ago and have since read through the first ten books of that series and have now started on the Saxon Series.
Anyway, thank you for your time and please continue writing these wonderful stories.  I have enjoyed them immensely.
Sincerely,
Shawn A. Scarborough

Mr. Cornwell,
Almost eight years ago I happened across The Winter King in the library. I have to admit, as a folklore buff, for the first hundred pages or so I was horrified - but then, as I got into the book amazement dawned on me. I have been a lifelong student of history, especially Celtic and Dark Ages, and I had never read anyone who nailed the experience like you did. I devoured the three books, ecstatic to be vicariously living history. Later, I picked up the Saxon Chronicles with similar results. I love the adventure of course, but the depth of understanding of the melding of England imparted therein is fantastic. I feel that to not read at least some of the Saxon Chronicle books is to miss out on what that epoch means. Some friends of mine even have a maxim when they face life's problems "What would Uhtred do?" Finally, I recently finished Stonehenge, which is truly a brilliant piece of historical reverse engineering. The book was so real that it even influenced me to take up traditional
archery. Anyway, I say all this just to say thank you, and that I have been very blessed and enriched by your work.
Sincerely,
David Rodgers

So, our quirky website guerillabookworm.com (http://guerillabookworm.com/?p=1922)reviewed your novel recently and I thought I'd let you know about it - mostly because we are probably not your demographic at all. And yet we seriously dug your book. Thanks for The Winter King. Even raucous nerds can get down with some historical fiction/epic Arthurian badassery. (Or maybe that is what makes us nerds?) Anyhow, thanks much!

Cmixgeek

Dear Sir:

I am having great pleasure re-discovering the Sharpe series on my Kindle.

As a complete aside, I have discovered that in late 18th C. America, frontiersmen did indeed use rifles similar to the Baker and considered the real test of marksmanship nail driving: they would put a nail half way into a plank and at varying ranges (50 paces was usually the starting point) would drive the nail into the plank with their rifles.

Another frontier diary written by a Brit, talked about exercising with Americans, shooting pistols from horseback at 6x6" posts. He recorded that "... after a surprisingly small amount of practice, all of the company could expect to hit 5 of 6 posts while riding at a gallop."

You and I might consider a shot from centre court of a basketball game, people who play for decades do not... I suspect the riflemen were no different. (and btw there is a witnessed shot with a buffalo rifle c. 1870 which brought down an opponent a mile away, I think it was as the battle of Indian Wells.)

So Thanks for the books.

cheers
James

I love the reference in 1356 to Browning's "Childe Roland To The Dark Tower Came".  It caught me completely off guard.  I've always loved that poem (and the Dark Tower series by Stephen King).

Kudos and well played!

Brent Bordelon

Hello Bernard,

I'm just coming to the end of Death of Kings and as usual, I don't want it to end!
I live in Benfleet and love the history of the area and your books bring it all to life for me.
I think I shall start from the beginning and read them all again!

Very well done!!
William West

Hi Bernard,
first of all, thank you.
Thank you for this amazing story, thank you for make me feel special reading these books.
I would like to say that (I know that you are famous all over the world) Brazil loves you.
You, by your books, inspire me.
There's nothing else left to be said. You are kind of blessed.
Thank you, for all.
Jaqueline