Your Questions

Q

Hi Mr. Cornwell. When you finally complete the Sharpe saga are you going to tell us "This is all, I'm not going to write any more Sharpe", or will we be left wondering if he'll march yet again some day? Alan Kempner

Submitted February 28, 2005

A

You'll know there will be no more Sharpes on the day you open this website and see a notice saying 'Bernard Cornwell is Dead'. Hope it won't be soon.

Q

I've really appreciated The Last Kingdom- you've quoted themes and terms from "The Wanderer," "Beowulf," etc. within the Old English corpus in your book, even capturing the frustration I'm sure many have felt with the texts of that era as Uhtred struggles to learn to read. It seems we as readers are invited to a sense of the exuberance and life lived in the moment, not to mention a tolerance for ambiguity between old Danish and Anglo-saxon Cultures, that the ninth century remnants can only hint at. So: Did you study Old English at some point? Did you daydream about shield walls when you did? Thanks! S. Kukolla

Submitted February 25, 2005

A

I did indeed study Old English and still read it for pleasure. Not all the texts - but poems like the Seafarer and the Wanderer are magnificent. I'm not sure I daydreamed of shield walls - but I do remember a scholarly debate about whether the Danes and the Saxons could hear each other shouting across the River Blackwater before the battle of Maldon - so three of us went there, shouted, and determined they could be heard!

Q

Dear Mr Cornwell, I just have one question to ask and one which im quite curious about. Which soldiers/warriors do you think are the best out of all your historical novels? Personally I cannot make my mind up, and it would be nice to know what the author thinks. Keep up the good work! Thanks for your time, Ben.

Submitted February 25, 2005

A

The best! Lord knows! But if I was to choose just one group from all I've written about to defend me and mine I'd take the 88th Regiment of the Line - the Connaught Rangers.

Q

I am a bit mystified by a notation on the Sharpe Appreciaion Society website where they speak of Richard Sharpe as an 'ensign'.......I served in the US Navy and was commissioned as an ensign. I was not aware that the British Army used the rank 'ensign'.....Am I to understand that the American colonies assumed that rank but only in terms of their Navy while it was common for the British to use it for all services? Rosalee

Submitted February 25, 2005

A

The British only used it in the infantry (the navy's equivalent rank was midshipman while the cavalry had the cornet). It was the junior officer rank and was eventually replaced by 'Second Lieutenant'. The change was happening at around the time of Napoleonic Wars and the Rifles, among others, never used the rank - they went straight to 'Second Lieutenant'. I don't know where the American usage began . . . .

Q

Is the Peculiar People a pseudonym for the Exclusive Brethren? George Mair

Submitted February 25, 2005

A

No, it isn't! They're a very similar group, or were very similar. The Peculiars started in the 1830's and lasted about 130 years before they died out. They only existed in Essex, with three chapels across the Thames Estuary in northern Kent and another half dozen in East London. So far as I remember the Peculiars regarded the Exclusive Brethren as far too liberal and open-minded, almost as bad as the Plymouth Brethren, or are they the same thing?

Q

Mr. Cornwell, Firstly, I would like to congratulate you on The Last Kingdom. It was absolutely wonderful and we're all waiting for the second of the series to be published. My question, Mr. Cornwell, is about the Blackshield Irish in the Warlord Series. I noticed that there were few mentions of them in the novels but I was wondering whether there was a historical basis for these ferocious warriors or if they are completely fictional. Well, thank you in advance and stay well. Sincerely, Nicholas Spangler -Somwhere in the ocean!

Submitted February 25, 2005

A

Fictional, alas, though there were Irish kingdoms on Britain's west coast so they're based on that rather obscure fact.

Q

Hello I have just finished Fallen Angels (which I couldn't put down!) and wondered if you would be continuing with the story of the Lazender family? I know they were written some time ago but would love to read some more as they combine historical detail with intrigue in a form slightly different to your norm. Finally I would just like to say - thank you for writing such fantastic stories! Louise

Submitted February 25, 2005

A

No plans right now for any more books featuring the Lazender family, but I'm glad to know you enjoyed the book.

Q

Hello, First just want to say thanks for so many great books, so far I've only read up to Waterloo but I'll be finishing the series soon. I just wanted to ask if when you first brought Jane into Sharpe's life were you planning for her to become so back stabbing and a cheater? And when you first wrote Lucille were you planning for her to end up with Sweet William or was she always meant to break his heart and end up with Sharpe? (Poor Sweet William) Thanks Sarah

Submitted February 22, 2005

A

I think I introduced them all with the most honest of intentions, and they screwed up my intentions. Lucille was the problem. I really did intend her for Sweet William, but Sharpe wouldn't let that happen.

Q

I have read all the Sharpe books at least twice. I also have read the Civil War and Revolutionary War Books. When can we expect another Sharpe book? I was a Korean War Marine, Atomic Marine, teacher for 31 years married for 53 years and climbing. I am fan. Thank you. Marshall Raftery

Will their be another Sharpe book or is he retired? In the Last Kingdom you used the name Ash, as you can see my family name is Ashley - mother's maiden name. Any connection? Ashley B. Reasner

Submitted February 22, 2005

A

I wish I knew! Ashley sounds like a good Saxon name, but alas, I don't have a dictionary of surnames (I should have) so I'm flying blind here!

There will be another Sharpe book, but not this year. Perhaps next?

Q

Hi Bernard, What is your favorite John Cowper Powys novel and why?
James Highfill

Submitted February 22, 2005

A

Wolf Solent, and I don't know why, precisely. I adore almost everything he wrote (there are some very weird late fantasy novels which are quite hard to take), but Wolf Solent is JCP at his best - the landscape descriptions are breathtaking, and the subtlety of the doomed relationship between Wolf and Gerda is superbly done. I know he's not to everyone's taste, nor should he be, but I re-read Wolf Solent every three or four years and find new things in it every time.