Bulletin Board

I am partial to UNABRIDGED audio CDs. I am listening, enthralled, to the new Agincourt CD series read by Charles Keating. He is EXCELLENT. I hope you will get him to read others of your books. I have scoured Barnes&Noble, AmazonUK and AmazonUS to find the audioCDs of the Saxon Kings series and the Warlord Chronicles, and found most of the unabridged ones as I can, though some are only available in abridged... I would encourage you to record as many of your books (past, present, and future) in unabridged versions, please. Take the splendid unabridged Agincourt as a model. It's awesome. Abridged=booo.

Emily Wentworth

Just want to say that I love these books!  I bought "The Burning Land" from ASDA and then I soon discovered the other ones and bought them straight away!

Jake

Dear Bernard.
I hope you don't disapprove of my use of audio books, they're a great way to pass the time on long drives.  I'm currently nearing the end of Vagabond.
I just wanted you to know how much I admire your writing and historical military knowledge. I've found myself sitting in the car for 20 mins after I've reached my destination just to hear a chapter completed.
Wonderful.                                           Thanks, Donnie.

Dear Mr. Cornwell,

I would just like to thank you for all the reading pleasure that you have given me over the years. In my early and formative years I was enthralled by the C.S. Forester - Hornblower novels. After reading them literally to destruction, my subsequent years were mainly filled with Douglas Reeman/Alexander Kent. (I couldn't really handle Patrick O'Brian). The Bolitho series were enthralling but the last 5 or so books certainly lost their way, and my interest. But then I found Sharpe; Thomas Hocton, Uthred, et al. Thank you again!  P.S. I too can remember the blond fly half racing across the rugby field.

Martin Higgs

I have just finished the last Sharpe book. I have read all of them even the small hard to get books. I have followed Sharpe through all of his adventures and have learnt so much along the way. Because of your books I have branched out to read many other authors and have a great respect and appreciation for Wellington and many other historical characters of their time. You are truly a gifted writer and an inspiration to me. Thank you

Stephen Josey (Australia)

After 6 or 7 of your books,  The Last Kingdom seemed significant.  It is written better,  an intersting context of both the danish and english (?) through Uhtred.  Wonderful,  simple story.  most  enjoyable.

Fred Lewis

Dear Mr Cornwell,

Just finished your excellent "Death of Kings" and eagerly await the next installment.
I was introduced to your work some five years ago and have now read just about everything you have published. I did have a question about the Thomas of Hookton series but now have the answer I was looking for from your excellent questions and response page on your website. So I just wanted to say thank you for the books and how you have filled many boring hours travelling to and from London on the train.

Kind Regards
Steve

PS I do however have one complaint, you keep making me late for things, especially work, as I can't seem to put your work down. (Thanks again.)

Dear Bernard,

When I was a child I remember asking my parents to translate some nouns, such as "thessole" (sp?) meaning chimney, that my Lancastrian grandmother used in her speech.  When I enquired further I was told that many of the unusual words in her dialect were derived from Scandanvian languages that had come with the Vikings during the time of Alfred The Great when the Vikings invaded the North.

As you have stated we ( I can only speak for the modern English in the UK) tend to dwell on our history from 1066. As a schoolboy I was also taught of the Roman invasion and led to believe that that period between the Romans and Normans was a chaotic abyss of no importance. This seemed contrary to the evident survival of my grandmother's language that has lived for more than a millennium.

Probably I am like a number of your readers; I tend to read for relaxation and joy and, although I find history fascinating, I never make or find time to study. I have now read your Saxon series and having just turned the last pages of Death of Kings I find myself profoundly edified. I find it hard to understand why I am moved, but I am. Somehow I feel a greater affinity with my roots. My maternal ancestors (photographs and spoken references), my children, and I, have physical characteristics typical of Danes/ Scandanavians; in different parts of western Europe I have been asked if I am Danish. There is no written evidence (admittedly that only goes back two centuries) to suggest any links, but our appearances and my grandmother's tongue lean that way. Tenuous supposition?  Undoubtedly. "Men believe what they want to believe" - but we all know that some gut feelings appear to be inexplicably correct. I love the way your books are so very human.

Your books have given the Danish invasion a sense of scale and range that have  enhanced my sense of my nationality. (I'm not sure that I had really thought about that before, history was presented so dryly at school). They have also entertained me hugely and provoked my imagination and diverse thoughts. I can't wait to read about when Uhtred fights again and to discover Edward's fate. Thank you for doing the research for us and writing such beautiful books.

Sorry to have indulged myself in a short exploration of how the books have made me feel, I have no idea whether such responses are of interest to you.

Good luck.

Adrian  (Fielding)

Mr. Cornwell,

I just wanted to say thank you for your stories.  I was the type of reader in high school who didn't read.  I never read any of the assigned stories, I cheated with spark notes.  I was never into it at all.  However, for one assignment we had to pick any book we wanted and write a paper on it.  I casually picked up the Winter King.  I planned to read some pages here and there and then make up a paper knowing my teacher would never know the difference.  However, the complete opposite happened.  That book became the first book I ever read, cover to cover.  I then followed it up with the 2 sequels.  I then read them again.  Shortly after I soon forgot about reading, being too busy with college, sports, work, etc.  During summer breaks when I had time, I knocked out the Grail quests, again twice.  Then I got lazy again, until my fiance bought me a kindle last year.  Since then, I have read all of the Richard Sharpe stories (amazing), and I have just begun the Saxon stories.  I just wanted to say thank you for your incredible talent.

Bob Humann

Hi Bernard:

A friend of mine introduced me to your books a couple months ago. I've read the first five of the Saxon Tales and just got the latest. Love them. I'm looking forward to reading some of your others.

Take care
Tim