Bulletin Board

Just a note to wish you 'fair winds and following seas' on your tour and lecture in the UK.  You give so many of us great pleasure it will be nice for you to see it first hand. I hope that John Wetton, will see you while you are there - he is a big fan and has based at least one of his lyrics/songs on your books titled "Holy War" (probably others) - he is a brilliant bass player (UK, King Crimson, ASIA) -  it is because of his recommendation that several of his fans (like myself) have become great fans of yours.

Best to you sir!

Debb Hayler

Dear Bernard Cornwell
I´m just writing this email to you to say thank you for the brilliant Sharpe series! I now have the entire series (in paperback 0 I wish I had the original first couple in hard back)! I´m an Australian engineer (I live in Melbourne) and am very fortunate to be paid to travel all over the world although toward Christmas I curse my employer! I first happened upon the Sharpe series some 5 or 6 years ago in Brisbane airport on my way to Mount Isa, a very remote mining town in North Queensland. Since then a Sharpe book (often more than one) has accompanied me in my long haul flights making the boring 12 to 16 hour flights an (almost) enjoyable experience. I have to ask though, why is Australia a long way from the rest of the world???
For the past 14 years I have been visiting Spain, mainly to Seville ( a seriously beautiful city!) and Huelva (not so beautiful...) and in the past 3 years, I have been exploring the sites of the Penisula war. I will not list them all here but I thank you deeply for your books. Prior to reading them, I had very little concept of the areas surrounding these two cities. I had explored Seville (on foot) and was starting to dislike my frequent visits as I was a little bored. At your urgings (in the historical footnotes you put at the back) I started renting cars and exploring further afield. I have loved every second. I plan on taking an extended holiday in the area in the next couple of years and I´m planning to start in Durana and work my way down through Vitoria, Burgos, Madrid and onto Seville and Cadiz. I cannot wait to do it.
I cannot thank you enough for these excellent books and for giving me an insight into the history on the Peninsula wars. I only hope you can find a way of continuing the series. I have just purchased a boxed set of the television series while I was in London on Friday ( I´m in Poland today and will be in Huelva again next week) and I´m looking forward to watching it when I´m home in mid October.
Thank you again and all the very best!
Owen Perham
Melbourne Australia

I want you to know how much my wife, Ruth, and I enjoyed your presentation at the Chatham library. You are not only a well deserved successful writer but a fascinating speaker and vocal entertainer. We hope to visit you again in the near future, perhaps at the Monomoy Theater and we both look forward to your next novel.

Best Regards,

Jack & Ruth Bechtold

I know everyone's hassling you about this and that...I thought it would be comical, if not just a nice gesture to comment merely to see how you're doing in the midst of this storm of "another book from my favorite series please!" I absolutely adore your writing and it even saved me from ignorance to the world of reading as well as historical novels, so I hope none of the pressure from other fans is bringing you down. I think I speak for everyone when I say we don't mean to rush you.

On what I consider to be an interesting side-note, I wrote to you about three years ago asking for help, and in response you gave me the courage to write on my own and do my best, which is another inadvertent deed of inspiring me. So thank you, I don't think I ever said that. Thank you for everything.

Still working on it by the way, coming along slow because I don't want to rush it since I am after all an inexperienced 19 year old trying to write about a period I know little about. Anyway, I hope you're doing well and enjoying yourself and hope you have a good day!

Aaron Wheeler

Hello!
I'm not after anything from you, I'm just a fan and would like to express that I love your books, I'm currently on the Saxon series and reading 'The Burning Land'. They're very difficult to put down once I've started reading! I've also read Azincourt which I also thought was fantastic! I look forward to read more of your work.

Tom Graham

Hi Bernard.

Within the last week I´ve read the 4 books about Uhtred. Thanks in general.......and thanks again for spanking the priests ;-)

Mvh. Erik Daugaard, Copenhagen

Mr. Cornwell,
I just this very minute finished Death of Kings and the saxon books. You have inspired me to read on and learn more of English History, and for this, I want to thank you. Looking forward to September 2013.

Ken from Boston

Hi Mr. Cornwell,

As I did some research on the anglo saxon period to england especially in regards to christianity, I found that the the present day Isle of Wight was the site of the last stronghold of paganaism in anglo saxon england until 686(according to Bede) when cadwella king of wessex (who wasn't even baptised as a christian) conquered it and killed the inhabitants including its king  Arwald,  and his sons (who he had baptised before killed)all in the name of christ and land and power. The reason I bring this up is because the king Arwald  supposedly had a sister who married to the royal house of kent and if one could speculate could of been an ancestor to Alfred the great as it seems that his grandfather egberth of wessex might have had kentish royal blood as well as west saxon royal blood ,if one can speculate with the tangled relatively unknown mess that is the royal anglo saxon family trees. I don't know if this idea struck your fancy but it seems up your alley  . Personally I find it very interesting and i believe Uhtred would find it fascinating (provided he opens books to study history of saxons and kings  which he will never do)  that one of the  ancestors of the great founder of  a unified england and christan defender of pagan invaders Alfred the great was of blood relation to the last english  pagan king in england .

Michael Powers

I'm spinning out of my chair having seen the release of 1356 but frustrated that the library here in Portland, Oregon doesn't have it even listed in your catalogue. I shall be making a phone call.
Secondly, having read the Grail series last year along with Mary Stewart's trilogy (+1) I became enamoured with the Aurthurian legend. I just picked up Ben Bova's new release Orion and King Arthur and am having a great time reading it, comparing the tale to your writing and Ms. Stewart's. A great adventure and I thank you for setting the bar for all others in regards to King Arthur.
When will Uhtred be back?
Now to call the library...
Jim

I have been reading the Sharpe books for years now and I was lucky enough to recently buy the first three books of the starbuck series. I am a former drug addict , pot mostly, the redemption of Swynard has reafirmed my own. I hope I am not jumping the gun and he fails at his attempt but you have entertained me and now you have helped me. Thankyou Mr Cornwell.
Chris