Bulletin Board

Dear Mr. Cornwell, I would just like to wish you and your family a very merry Christmas from Jersey in the Channel Islands. I can't tell you how delighted I am to have discovered your Sharpe series. I was at a loss having read the last Flashman book and never thought I would find a character anywhere near as entertaining as Harry. How wrong I was! I have read the first three Sharpes and have all the others sitting on the shelf waiting their turn. I also have the DVD collection but have somehow resisted watching any of them as I want to read the books first. I have just viewed your website for the first time and was interested to hear you speak of your interest in crime fiction. I was a police officer in Hong Kong for 15 years and have been a prison officer for seven. As an ex-cop I have always found Joseph Wambaugh's books to be bang on the nail (even if he does repeatedly describe Mars as a star in one of them!). Anyway, I am having so much fun with Sharpe and thank you so much for filling my Flashman void! Warm regards, Tom Muir

I've been a Richard Sharpe fan for years and read all the Sharpe's books several times. On your recommendation I hunted down and read Wellington, The Years of the Sword, by Elizabeth Longford. Whoever thought that a history book could be such a page turner?! And it really helped put the Sharpe's adventures in perspective. Thank you listing this as a resource. Greg Kelsey

Mr. Cornwell, Just writing as a fan that had discovered your work rather as a lark three years ago. Since then I have been finding the time in my busy life to read as many of your books as I can. I have escaped into your Sharpe books,Saxon stories,Grail Quest and have currently finished Enemy of God of the Arthur tales. I look forward to Excalibur and thank you for the rousing adventures you have provided me in the comfort of my study. I do hope in the future there is the possibility of another Saxon story. My best to you, Richard Fisher

Only this year have I started to read your books and it was the Warlord series which started me off; my grandson loves having stories read to him, particularly when swords are being swung and Uhtred really does that so very well. I am hoping to get him reading them himself one day. I had avoided your Sharpe books as I have to admit to not being a great fan of Sean Bean so had my impression clouded by the TV programmes. Your books are so much better than the films and now I am working my way through them, in no particular order, just as I find them. My latest read though was Stonehenge. I did finish it, despite putting it down several times. I understood where you were going with it but felt the whole thing was overworked, not one of your best. Having now found your website and read your advice to would be authors perhaps I will get round to putting my own ideas on paper. So far I like the Starbuck novels the best.
Keith Cooper

Hello, I wanted to send a pic from my wife's and my visit to Zanzibar last summer (I was a UN military observer with the UN in Sudan at the time) as there is a great shot of one of Mr. Cornwell's most recent books on the table, as Heather looks out over the beach. You'll have to take my word that it was a wonderful read - as per usual - and quite suitable to Africa and Zanzibar. I met Mr. Cornwell at a reading here in Victoria, BC and remember very clearly spending a wonderful evening. Thanks and keep up the wonderful work. Jim Parker Victoria, BC

I have read the entire Sharpe series several times and all it has done is leave me hungry for more. I want to know what happened to Antonia. Did Sharpe ever revenge himself on Morris, and he really should get his money back from his wife. What ever happen to his family in the future. I WANT MORE Thank you, Jeffery Chambrovich

All my family wants for Christmas is the further adventures of Uhtred of Bebbanburg. A very merry Christmas to you and yours.
Joshua Davis

Hello, My name is David Groveman, and I am a playwright, screen writer and devout reader. I decided to write into you because of a play I've started that was inspired by your Sharpe series (I've just finished Escape). It is a Pantomime where I've adapted the Commedia characters into the British army. The story surrounds Lieutenant Panto (Pantolone or Groucho Marx) who is already middle aged despite his rank, seeking to get his son promoted to get more money without doing more work. I'd love to send you a snippet. Enough about me though, let's focus on you. I love your books. Besides my current adventuring with Captain (at the moment) Sharpe, I've experienced King Arthur, The 100 Years War, The Civil War (Up to Antietam... AHEM!), and read about Stonehenge. I love your books and your characters, Sharpe most of all. If I had one complaint it's that I read you too fast. I can down a Sharpe novel in two days of commuting. At $14 a pop, that works to roughly $35 a week to keep occupied on the Bus into Manhattan. So I request either longer novels or lower prices.

I'll include below a monologue from the play. (It's a Panto so everything is allowed to be historically inaccurate. They're all clowns.) In the scene Brigadier General Sir Reginald Southham is admiring his troops as the march towards the French lines (to their deaths). Brig Southham: Look at them, Pomfrey. Behold my men, marching in their neat little rows. Ten by ten as God intended infantry to be& Columns my good man. Would you look at that? Them! You can blast those daft French with their moronic notions. Innovation & Poppycock! Innovation, my dear Pomfrey, is a nasty habit. Now I tell you that if one is to achieve a proper victory, one must employ precision marching and drill. Guerrilla warfare? When have monkeys defeated a well-drilled column of British musketry? Pomfrey, what was that noise? Pomfrey? Why did that man on the left fall over? Never mind that, theyve broken formation. Damn it all! Can you believe the audacity? Who ever heard of employing cannon on standard infantry formations? These French will stoop to anything. It is as if they expect we should allow our men to break rank and protect themselves. Why on earth would we do a thing like that? No matter, marching in neat columns worked for Rome and it will most assuredly work for us, only better. For after all, WE are British. Thanks for reading! DG

Just wanted to thank you for many hours of enjoyment I have been the beneficiary of by your writing. Cheers. +Paul

Hallo, my name is Mavy, I'm 16 and I come from Italy. I'm writing to tell you that your books are really beautiful and involving. I love your way of describing things, feelings and characters. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year from Trento, Italy. Mavy (one of your greatest fans!!)