Your Questions

I'm currently enjoying "Sharpe's Escape". The sewer scene had me laughing and cringing at the same time. Has there been any interest in adapting any of the Sharpe books for the big screen? That would be fantastic, especially given the current trend in historical military films. Fingers crossed eh! Mark Smullen

Mr Cornwell, I love your books especially the Starbuck and Arthur ones. You write excellent supporting female characters - why don't you pick some glam military heroine and write about her as the main character? Amanda Clarke-Prebble

Mr. Cornwell, I have been reading your Sharpe series (I am reading Sharpe's Siege right now), and I have also read "Rebel." It seems like the characters think about religion quite a bit. --It also seems like the subject is presented in many different moods. Some of your characters seem very angry about religion, some seem to use religion to manipulate people, some have a peace from it. Because of that, it is very difficult to get a sense of how you feel about religion. Richard Sharpe, for example, claims to not be religious, but at times betrays an uncertainty regarding the existence of God. Then you have Nate Starbuck, who in the first book very strongly believes in the existence of God; but seems to be willfully setting out to go against God's law. Of course, it does not help that his father was a violent man. Anyway, that is just to illustrate the presence of religion in your books. So, I was wondering how big a part religion plays in your life or in your past? --I do enjoy your books. I learn a lot from them, and I am impressed by the research that goes into understanding the battlefield. I have read almost all your Sharpe books. I still have to read Sharpe's Revenge, Sharpe's Waterloo, Sharpe's Devil, and Sharpe's Escape; as well as the short stories. Thanks for providing such an interesting way to study history. I plan on continuing reading your books, probably I will read the Warlord series next. Kelly

Sir, Once again thank you. Thank you for not only writing a truly brilliant novel - I have just finished Sharpe's Seige - but also thank you for continuing to educate and inform. In Sharpe's Seige you make reference to a signpost that has had the mile figure erased to be replaced by the amount in kilometres. I never imagined that kilometres actually went as far back as the early 1800's but there you go. I have a question for you. For me what makes your books so superior to any other author I have read are two things. Firstly, your telling of action and battles is first class. It is almost as if the reader is there deep in the middle of the action. At times it takes your breath away. Secondly, the dialogue is wonderful. It can be funny or touching or dramatic, but it is always believable and very easily readable. The dialogue in Sharpe's Seige where Sharpe wants Harper to let him pull his bad tooth is excellent. Which do you find the easist - the action or the dialogue? Which comes first when you are plotting and drafting a new novel? Which do you feel is the most important? Which do you enjoy writing the most? Thankyou again. Barry Evans

First I don't know if you have any children but if you do when you're writing do they pop their head over your shoulder and ask "what ya doing" and do you educate them in the world of Sharpe? 2nd :who is your favorite character? NOW DON'T say you don't have one, there must be one you loved creating or love writing about. SHAND

Have finished Sharpe's Escape and would like to pass on my congratulations to you for another excellent read. To take an expression from Public TV, each one is "time well spent". One question I do have is a comment from Capt. Leroy concerning compensation for property lost during the American Revolution. Who was paying this compensation and was it never paid? Paul Morgan

I've read all your Arthur books. I'd like to know if you appreciate or not the cultural changement made by Romans to your country. best regards from Italy. Simona

Dear Mister Cornwell, Just want to ask some questions. Will you be coming near Ireland in the near future for book signing. Very interesting. Another question is; what month was Sharpe born in? Was it June or July 1777. Sources are confusing. Thanks a million, continue the Sharpe Legacy. Greatest reading ever. Quite influencing. Colum O'Rourke.

I am currently researching Arthurian history. (Incidently, thanks to your Warlord chronicles which remain my most read and loved books from the time I first picked them off my dad's book shelf to this day!) Much of the books' action takes place in the Welsh counties. Whilst I am well aware that the books are fictional, I also know you did much research on the subject. Please could you enlighten me as to which sources led you to place the action in the Welsh counties? All the historians that I seem to be reading are claiming the historical Arthur was infact fighting most of his battles in Scotland. I think I'm more inclined to believe Wales and Cornwall were the actual setting, but I don't know where to look or what to read to aid my theory! Thank you for your help. And for the books, they are without a doubt the most inspiring tales I have read. Annie Evershed

Hi, I have just read Sharpe's Tiger, Triumph and Fortress and thought they were brilliant. As I was browsing in my nearby Ottakars it showed that chronologically speaking (life of Sharpe not publication) the last book is Sharpe's Devil - do you have any plans to write further adventures of Sharpe after 1821, perhaps he could go to Egypt and help in deciphering the Rosetta stone (Like Sharpe would be able to do that, well it is fiction lol) or perhaps the Anglo-Burmese war of 1823? Joshua Selig