Bulletin Board

I have greatly enjoyed following Richard Sharpe over the years. I have now discovered the Grail Quest series and have enjoyed these even more. Please keep up the good work

George Reid

Hello Bernard, I just wanted to say that I've come to your wonderful books a bit late, but am fast making up for lost time. I've read Stonehenge and am nearly finished The Saxon Stories; I find Uhtred to be a marvelous protagonist. Although employed as a business writer (proposals, tech docs, etc.), I'm looking forward to the day when I have some time to devote to writing some historical fiction of my own. In other words, you've inspired me, which I know is one of the best compliments a writer can get, as it comes from the heart. Thank you. :) -Alan Tarrant, Raleigh NC

Hi Mr. Cornwell.. not sure how I missed your books all these years, but I just wanted to tell you that I am making up for lost time... As a retired Army officer, you have sent me into what we call "the box" - a tactical problem that is nonstop.. only this box is one of reading pleasure. I have already referred you to many of my colleagues, but with the caveat..to beware, because there are 20 books in the Sharpe series! All the best and many thanks from an old infantry guy. John Smolenski

We are neighbors in history, so to speak, though hardly neighbors of current geography. I descend from the Percys of Northumberland, and Alnwick Castle, a map will show, is not too far from Bamburgh Castle, home to some of your antecedents. I have just in the past month begun to read your Saxon series. I began with "The Lords of the North" and have now backtracked to the first book in this series, with plans to read books two and four. All are under my roof. I was delighted to visit your website last night to learn that you have written a fifth book in the Saxon Stories, to be released next month. I did not grow up in California with any knowledge of my British ancestry--rather the focus in Kern County schools was on the numerous native tribes in the state, the Spanish Padre Junipero Serra, and the string of Spanish missions. It is only since 2003 that I, a former print reporter and in my 50s, began to slowly piece together our family's story. The Loomises, from Braintree, Essex, East Anglia, arrived in ancient Windsor, Connecticut, in 1638. The elite prep/boarding school, Loomis Chaffee, today sits on the ancestral Loomis homestead; there is a blurb on the school's website about emigrants Joseph and Mary White Loomis who came to these shores with eight children. I have learned during the last handful of years that through my paternal great-grandmother, I am descended from four prominent Puritan pastors of New England: John Wilson, John Wilson Jr., Thomas Hooker, and Grindal Rawson. Elizabeth Mansfield Wilson, wife of John Wilson, who served as first pastor of Boston's First Church, is of Plantagenet descent (the Eure line in Douglas Richardson's recent genealogy tome about the Plantagenets). I picked up your Saxon series because you write of my very distant great-grandfather, Alfred the Great of Wessex. Your books in this series are fun, well written, and provide pleasant hours of entertainment. The vivid historical fiction you create puts some flesh on history. I hope to visit England for the first time, I hope in 2011. Thank you for your marvelous efforts. Linda Loomis San Antonio, Texas

I was a bit alarmed at what you allowed to happen to Hook. I still have my little finger alas bent from a tendon injury. I didn't realise the potential consequences until my operating surgeon explained. More follows. 'What would you lose if you didn't have a pinky finger? Often people consider the pinky (pinkie) as a decorative accessory of the hand. However, hand therapist will confirm that with losing your little finger you will lose about 50 percent of your hand strength. Interestingly, sometimes the pinky is used for making hand gestures. But more often the little finger is featured with abnormalities which appear to be related to certain problems in body and/or mind. For example, only recently a Dutch researcher revealed that a 'curved' pinky is often seen in the hands of people who have autism! The pinky, the humble fifth finger, is often considered as a bit of a decorative accessory: the little finger to crook daintily while sipping tea from a teacup. Compared with the other fingers the pinky doesn't carry the heavy burdens of the pointer, the index finger, which pokes things importantly and flicks through the Rolodex on urgent missions. The pinky also doesn't display your life's commitment with a belt of bright gold, as ring finger does. And the pinky doesn't, like the middle finger, succinctly communicate impudence or defiance.'

Ellie

Wicked, wicked man. Suffering as she does from chronic BBD (Busy Brain Disorder) and having a compulsion to solve any puzzle she sees, Aunt Susan was dismayed to run across the following yesterday: Take you out, put me in, and a horse appears in this happy person! It was no help at all that she does not wish to know the identity of Mr. Sharpes father; that she believes a key component in Mr. Sharpes claim to a place in the pantheon is his character as an orphan unencumbered by paternal legacy as an unexpected sport flowering sweetly at the back of the cosmic compost bin. She was helpless. She was lost. The universe must come to a screeching halt while she puzzled. She was also saddened to think that her rage for a solution must inevitably result in the destruction of something she loves. As it turned out, she need not have worried, and she forgives you the time that should have been spent doing the dishes. It could not be helped. Let me urge you, Sir, to resist any temptation and all entreaties to burden Mr. Sharpe unnecessarily. For one thing, it is one of the joys of your stories that you do not stretch your characters or their circumstances to the point of melodrama. Knowing what we already know about his mother, it seems unlikely that she or her customer would have had any notion as to her childs paternity. To produce a village explainer a long-remembering beggar or barmaid at this late date would draw a large bill on ones credulity, and to produce an aging Sharpe look-alike would be rather sad. For another, there are some questions that simply should not be answered (as the estate of Mrs. Mitchell should have known). For her part, Aunt Susan is perfectly content to love Sharpe as he is the result of the unremarkable congress between a whore and some gay and carefree rogue, perhaps a jolly tar or a plowboy. Encouraging you to remain resolute and, as ever, grateful for the pleasure you never fail to provide, I am yours etc., Aunt Susan P.S. Please do remember that we are still waiting for you to extract Sweet William from the wilderness and set him gently down on the Bridge of Angels.

Correct me if I am wrong but I think I know why you have enjoyed writing and been so successful with the Sharpe series so much. For such a long time ago the military history is so well-documented that you have an extensive supply of resources. The technology of the time and relatively small number of participants allow you to depict a heroic or determined individual as the key to victory in many conflicts. In your Afterwords you often refer to actual individuals whose actions were key to or inspirational for success in a battle as well as to your most valuable resources. I have all your books and re-read most of them but these two elements make your Sharpe Series the best Re-Reads of any of your collections.

Ted Goldenberg

As you can see from my address my husband and I reside in Portugal. It has just been in the local paper that just outside Lisbon the site of Wellingtons command post has been discovered by archeologists at Forte Sobral de Monte Agraco located between Mafra and Torres Vedras. Just in case you have not heard the news yet, we thought you might be interested. We love your Sharpe Novels and have just finished reading them all again.
Gillian Hansford

Mr. Cornwell, While I'm sure you are inundated with numerous e-mails like this on a daily basis, I nonetheless wanted to send you a note of thanks and encouragement. A voracious reader as a youngster, I have always devoured books - especially those that have a historical fiction basis and are combat related. I am a 17-year career Infantry officer in the Army and have enjoyed several of your books immensely. My favorites include Agincourt, the Grail Quest series, and Saxon stories. I always wonder how my favorite authors (you, Steven Pressfield, Conn Iggulden) are able to capture the nuances of combat so well. I have deployed too many times and have been put into combat situations that I am unable to share with anyone who wasn't there - not because I don't want to, but more because it's difficult to articulate the emotions, fears, joys that accompany those unique and seemingly indescribable scenarios. You Sir, come the closest. I feel the same adrenaline and enhanced situational awareness when I read the battles of my favorite character, Uhtred of Babbenburg. January 2010 seems like a long time away for his next adventure but like a dutiful Soldier, I will be patiently waiting and look forward to immersing myself in his next book in order to share that warrior mentality once again. Thank you for your dedication and vision. I wish you the best of luck in future novels and will remain a devoted fan. Very respectfully, Eric Weis LTC, Infantry

Thank you so very much, sir. I so greatly enjoy your novels, and have collected/read every novel I have been able to find. I am happy to say I have almost the whole collection. I just wanted to say thank you very much, and express my respect for you and your work. Your books are inspiring, entertaining and above all, addicting. Thank you for hours upon hours of wonderful plots and intriguing characters. With Highest Regards, Shane Veenstra