Your Questions

Q

Dear Mr. Cornwell, I was sorry to hear that you have been in poor health recently. I hope you're recovering well and that you stay healthy. It's been a while since I last emailed you and I've got a lot of questions. 1. Will you be doing a US book tour for The Pale Horseman and if so do you plan on coming back to the Bailey's Crossroads Borders or anywhere else in the Northern VA or DC area? I had such a great time at your talk and signing in February and I hope you can come back. 2.Will The Red Ship be released next year in the US as well or will us Yanks have to wait until 2007? 3. This is a really trivial, nitpicking question but which cheek is Sharpe's scar on? It jumps from side to side in certain books. 4. I read on another website that your adopted name was Bernard Wiggins is this the reason for Derfel's Saxon name Wigga? 5. Have you read any of Andy McNab's books? I would never have found them if I hadn't seen his first thriller recommended on the Reading Club page of your site. I recently read his autobiography Immediate Action and was surprised at how similar his early military career is to Sharpe's. He was also an orphan in London, joined the Army at 16, and trained at Shorncliffe and served in the Royal Green Jackets before he passed selection for the SAS. 6. I'm now 17 and have been reading your books since I was 15 and I was wondering if you hear from many other young fans of your books? Thank you very much for taking the time to answer questions from your readers I don't know of many other authors who do. I can't wait to read The Pale Horseman and the rest of Uhtred's saga. Keep up the great work! James

Submitted November 5, 2005

A

1. - No tour is planned at the moment.

2. - I wish I knew. I wish I knew that it will be called The Red Ship. The latest proposal is The Sword Path. One or the other, I expect. I imagine a US publication date will be decided sometime this summer and we'll let you know!

3. - Does it? I was always afraid of that. I should keep notes. It's on whatever side the last book says it is.

4. - Don't think so. Might have been. I've honestly forgotten!

5. - I like his books - but confess I haven't read the autobiography so had no idea that he and Sharpe shared a background. Thank you!

I do hear from many young readers - and it's always a pleasure!

Q

I enjoyed your book "The Last Kingdom" because I read all I can find on medieval England. I'm doing historical fiction for older kids about the Danelaw in 1013. Books like yours renew my press to finish mine. I'm wondering if much, particularly about warfare, had changed between your time period and mine? Have you written any books about Sweyn Forkbeard or Canute? I've heard Canute referred to as "the great" but your assertion that only Alfred bore that title is bothering me. Thanks for taking time to answer. Ruth Lawler Kasilof, Alaska : )

Submitted November 5, 2005

A

Don't be bothered. There's nothing official about the honorific, so any of us are free to call any monarch 'the Great' if we like. Generally speaking Alfred is the only one accorded the title, and I've never seen it attached to Cnut, but maybe the Danes do? I've not written about him, nor about Sveyn Forkbeard.

Q

Mr Cornwell, I am just finishing up Excalibur and have enjoyed the Warlord Chronicles very much. I have a couple of questions regarding the treatment of women. With regards to adultery, would the woman really be "burnt?" Seems rather puritanical. Did you research this? I would imagine that there surived written laws from the "Welsh" from the time. Also, weren't there Celtic queens, Boudicca & Cartimandua? Seems that a people who would allow a woman to rule them would treat them in a more civil manner. Perhaps I am wishing that my Welsh & Irish ancestors weren't so barbaric. Thank you. ps-I am a lifelong Philadelphian, and I thought Redcoat was outstanding. Actually learned of the Crooked Billet! It's amazing what they do not teach in history class. Lawrence Pembroke

Submitted November 5, 2005

A

I wrote the books so long ago that I can't remember all the details now - but yes, they were barbaric. We were all barbaric once! In Britain, up until the eighteenth century, the penalty for a man killing his wife was hanging - the other way round? Burning. I don't think there are any surviving Welsh law codes from the Arthurian period - but I did use the Laws of Hywel dda (later) and did some redaction.

Q

Dear Bernard, After reading that the next Sharpe will be at Barrossa I had to ask which attack Sharpe will be facing and whether he finally finds out about Pumphery's murder of Astrid that's kind of been left hanging. I also wondered how many more books do you see doing with Sharpe and after Barrossa will Albuera be on the cards??? And in regards to the Hundered Years War series you have written about the early years do you think you will write about the final years and the battles say against Joan of Arc or the battle of Frombiy (Very bad spelling I know) from the English perspective. How did the French who got decimated by battles like Crecy and Agincourt manage to win battles against the Long Bow?? Anyway cannot wait till the next book. Regards Geraint P.S Have you ever been tempted to write about Richard the LionHeart and his battles with Saladin in the Crusades???

Submitted November 5, 2005

A

How many more Sharpe? Honestly don't know. I can't imagine there'll be more than five more, but I said that after ten books, so it really is impossible to say.

I might touch on the later period, yes, but don't know when. The French mainly coped with the longbow by avoiding pitched battles - very sensible. The best source for all this is Jonathan Sumption's magnificent two-volume history of the 100 Years War, which I thoroughly recommend.

Never. Not once.

Q

I have been a tremandous fan of yours, and one of the highlights of the year is when a new novel by you come out. One of my favorite characters is Father Curtis of "Sharpe's Sword" who I realize is an actual historical figure, but I have not been able to find any information on him outside of your novel. May I ask in what source you found him? Neil Cosgrove

Submitted November 1, 2005

A

He's in several books, says I, which isn't helpful. I have an idea he's in Mark Urban's The Man Who Broke Napoleon's Codes, but I can't swear to it because I can't lay my hands on the book at this moment. You'll certainly find a lot of information about him in Jock Haswell's The First Respectable Spy, a biography of Colquhoun-Grant published by Hamish Hamilton in London in 1969

Q

Just wanted to let you know that I am a big fan of the Grail Quest, Arthur series and the sailing adventures. Oddly, I have not yet read any Sharpe books, but rather like the older historical works. In fact the Last Kingdom was terrific and I look forward to reading the Pale Horseman. Having grown up in Michigan, I raced yachts along with my brother many times, so the sailing adventures appeal to him as well. We raced in the Chicago to Mackinac race this summer (a 3 day storm-filled adventure), and I had brought along my Stormchild book to read when I was off-shift. After telling the guys about your book during the course of the race, all 19 guys in the crew are now interested in reading your books. I just finished reading a non-fiction book on the battle of Agincourt. a fantastic battle. I imagined the soldiers from one of your Grail novels screaming "St. George" as he swung his sword. Being of Irish heritage, I was wondering if you could recommend any fiction or non-fiction accounts of any medieval Ireland battles. Unfortunately since you have not yet tackled that topic, I figure you may be able to direct me to something that you enjoyed reading. My guess is that you do a tremendous amount of reading yourself to do your research, so hopefully you may have come accross a good one or two you could recommend. If you ever decide to write anything about medieval Ireland I am sure people will be lined up to buy the books. And I would be the first in line. Keep up the fantastic work. you provide a fantastic escape into another world for your readers. and for that I am very grateful. Bob Burke

Submitted November 1, 2005

A

I'm striking out here - I simply don't know! I've always taken the view that Irish history is best written by Irish folk, perhaps because having lived in Ireland (and loved it) I realise the vast gulf of understanding between Irish apprehensions of their story and British ones. I'm incorrigibly British so would find it very hard to strike the right note.

Q

Hello Mr. Cornwell, I've read and enjoyed all of the Sharp books, and my wife and I are big fans of the television series. I've been looking for information on an Irish ensign named Devlin or Delvin who engaged in some very heroic and foolhardy behavior at one of the sieges in Spain or Portugal. Can you point me to a source? Also, I've just published a book titled Killing the Celt. My web site for the book is www.killingthecelt.com/. Best wishes, Tomas

Submitted November 1, 2005

A

Lord only knows! It depends which siege - the major ones, of course, being Ciudad Rodrigo, Badajoz, Burgos and San Sebastian. There were certainly enormous Irish heroics at Ciudad Rodrigo, but do you know which regiment he was in? The regiment is the best starting point, because the regimental history will have the details. I'll visit killingthecelt asap! Thanks.

Q

Dear Bernard, I was interested by the fact that you have lived in England, Ireland and America. Of those three peoples, what are the individual qualities that you like most about them in turn? What differentiates them in your memory? Just a remark on what you like most about each country would be intriguing to hear.
Paul Reid

Submitted November 1, 2005

A

I've come to the conclusion that people are much the same, while societies differ. The Irish, when I lived there, placed a very high value on community, and to be welcomed into that warmth (and wit) was an immense privilege and pleasure. The English are much less approachable, but have a wonderful scepticism which spares them from debilitating enthusiasms. They also invented cricket, so are marvellous. I love America's optimism, openness and genuine belief in freedom (which, of course, implies the freedom to fail). The one thing I detest - and this is a personal view, nothing else - is puritanism, and it's modern form is political correctness which, tragically, is infecting all three countries. But they'll survive, just as Florence survived Savanarola and Geneva outlived Calvin.

Q

Hi again, Mr. Cornwell. How many novels would you estimate the Starbuck Chronicles will eventually run to, assuming that you get him all the way to Appomattox? My guess is about fourteen novels total. Does that sound about right to you? Alan Kempner

Submitted November 1, 2005

A

Sounds about right, if I should live that long. Maybe just a round dozen?

Q

Hi Bernard Re: Silver Pyx Just read The Pale Horseman. Great stuff. Liked your dedication to GMF: one of my greats too. However - re the silver pyx or plate which is featured. As a certifiable word nerd I'd been researching the origins of the verb to box and found it possibly connected with the ancient Greek word for fist- pyx - which seems to have come directly down to us as a small fist sized box used to house religious items. So I wondered, where did your use of the word pyx for a plate come from? Best wishes Steve Ainsworth Halifax West Yorks

Submitted November 1, 2005

A

From the second definition of the word in the 20 volume Oxford English Dictionary! You're right, of course, that it comes from the Greek for a box, but it was used for any 'vessel' used to hold the consecrated host.