Your Questions

Hello Mr. Cornwell!

I'll be visiting Badajoz in early May, and I'm very eager to retrace the steps of the battle, see the breach, and follow Sharpe's steps. However, I was curious about one thing. I realize there are things made up to advance plots in books, but I wanted to know if you had an exact, or close location to where the Moreno's house was in the city, where Teresa and Antonia were. It's fairly nearby the cathedral, and much has obviously changed in 211 years, but I'd love to narrow it down and potentially walk the streets they did.

(The Sharpe Companion, from what I can tell, shows it being the now city hall, but doesn't provide evidence- but I know that's an unofficial book and would rather have your knowledge.) Did you ever visit the city and walk the streets yourself to pin point the location? Or just more of less looked at a map and chose it for the plot?

I hope you're doing well, and all the best with Sharpe's Command!

- Kiran

I note that you could wish 'Sharpe's Devil' "unwritten." As this unsatisfactory book is set in 1820 and would appear to rule out a post-Waterloo military career for Sharpe, dismissing it from the canon (no pun..) would allow our hero to respond to Wellington's implied wish at the conclusion of 'Assassin' and return to the Colours - and perhaps achieve General Officer rank...

Incidentally (and pedantically) on re-reading 'Company' I find that you have mis-spelt Black Bob's surname: he is Craufurd, not Crauford.

Regards

David Lovibond

Dear Bernard

I was kind of curious but I wondered what would Sharpe have made of U.S General Andrew Jackson if he'd ever met him. Would they have hated each other, they seemed to have the same prickly personality and those never normally get on or would they have got on do you think ?

Regards

Geraint

Dear Mr Cornwell

I have hugely enjoyed reading your novels, particularly the Sharpe series, and while on holiday in South America, have read Sharpe’s Assassin – another brilliant read.

In Colombia, we were taken to the site of the Battle of Boyaca in 1819, which was decisive in the independence of Colombia and other countries in northern South America from Spain.

It appears that there was a ‘British Legion’ (consisting of British and Irish volunteers) fighting for the rebels at this battle and generally throughout the independence campaign.

So I wonder (though I’m sure you get plenty of ‘good suggestions’ for novels) whether you’d considered writing a novel – maybe a series – around the struggle for independence of Spain’s South American colonies?

It sort of fits with the ending of the Napoleonic Wars, though I’m not sure that Sharpe could be persuaded to leave his Normandy idyll! But given the involvement of Irish volunteers, maybe Patrick Harper could move centre-stage?

After all, Bernardo O’Higgins, of obvious Irish ancestry, is considered one of the founding ‘fathers’ of Chile.

Best wishes, and thanks for many hours of reading pleasure.

Richard Lawes

I grew up loving Sharpe, and have in later years enjoyed your other works covering earlier history (I'm a historian by qualification) but Stormchild has always been a book I go back to. Forgive my ignorance if it's common knowledge, but were you a sailing man? What prompted you to deviate from historical adventures?

Many thanks for supplying me with a lifetime of stories and adventures. Should you be visiting Exeter or Devon at any point, it would be an honour to buy you a drink.

Jonathan

Hello Mr. Cornwell,

I'd love to know if you had any go-to nonfiction books that you often referenced to make the medieval world "come alive" in your The Last Kingdom and Arthurian books. I've enjoyed reading poems and translated stories from that time and would love to learn more about the actual people, villages, and life. Are you able to point me in the right direction?

Also, do you ever make any more big charts of books you liked as mentioned in your Writing Advice post? Quite curious about what that all looks like!

Thank you,

David

Hello.

With the latest Sharpe book being delayed for a year, did you start work on the book for 2023, please?  I know that you rarely think beyond the next book.  Or will it just be Sharpe's Command this year?

Thank you,

Andrew S., Leeds.

Dear Mr. Cornwell,

I hope this letter finds you well. As a recent fan of your work, I am writing to express my gratitude, and to let you know how your Sharpe Books reignited my love of reading. I began Sharpe in June of 2021, after having gone without reading fiction for nearly fifteen years. This long hiatus from novels didn’t occur for lack of trying, but each fiction piece I had picked up in the intervening years had failed to immerse me in the story. That was until I found Sharpe’s Tiger.

I read the first few pages while still in the book store, and found I couldn’t put it down. Excited to learn how Sharpe would fare in his first real battle, I headed to the register to make the purchase, and after finishing the story within a few days (which was quite the achievement for me) I went and bought every remaining book in the series. It became part of my morning and evening routine to sit on my porch or beside the reading lamp, living vicariously through Sharpe for a few hours of each day.

One of the reasons I believe the series caught my interest (besides that fact that I have a longstanding fascination with history) was because, as an American, I’ve often felt this era has been glossed over within our national consciousness. It always seemed that we jumped right from the Revolutionary War to the Civil War with hardly a mention of the events in between. Sharpe opened up a newfound appreciation for the early 19th century that has since inspired me to learn more about, not only the Anglo-Mysore Wars and Napoleonic Wars, but The War of 1812 and the Barbary Wars as well.

In late 2022, I finally completed the last book, Sharpe’s Devil. While finishing the series has been bittersweet, I was pleased to learn you have been working on another book in the series, Sharpe’s Command. However, I was sorry to hear that you had been facing health concerns during its writing. As someone who has faced my own health issues, I would like to wish you a full and speedy recovery. While I am excited to read the latest installment, I am just glad to hear you’re taking the time to prioritize your health.

Anyhow, thank you for taking the time to read this letter and for writing the masterpiece that is the Sharpe Books. Reading them was a welcome escape during a stressful year, and I am grateful that I stumbled upon them when I did.

I very much look forward to reading more of your works in the months and years to come.

Sincerely,

Dan O'Malley

P.S. I just read on the contact page above that you sometimes give talks. Do you have plans for any in the Wilmington, North Carolina area in the near future? If so, it would be an honor to attend!

 

I have read many of your books and have so enjoyed collecting them, and one day soon I am hopeful I may have the pleasure of meeting you.  I am of Scottish, Norway and Denmark and Swedish and Iceland Bloodline and as a child my friends all played with GI Joes and I for some strange reason was drawn to Viking Dolls.  I still have a few of these Viking dolls in my collection that I once played with as a very young boy.  I can't explain the pull but now that I have traced my family roots and DNA I am drawn to fiction and non fiction historical accounts of my family's history.  Your stories have captured what I had as a young boy, and rekindled a love of reading and of my love of history.

Thank you for bringing these characters into my life and please continue to write until your last breath.

Navy Veteran, Francis Patrick Brady (McDonald)

I live in western NC, will you ever be anywhere close where I can meet you in 2023 or 2024?

Frank Brady

Hi Bernard,

What was the development of Jane Gibbons? Considering you introduce the locket of her that Sharpe keeps after killing Lt Gibbons in Sharpe's Eagle, the very first book, your first conceptions of the series must have included a Jane/Sharpe romance. Did you always know it would turn out so badly? Did you think it might have a happy ending? How did that influence the Teresa character as having the Jane subplot in the back of Sharpe's mind during his marriage to Teresa, in Sharpe's Company you even mention them meeting in England, seems to indicate that you would inevitably kill off Teresa, as you did, in order to eventually fulfil the Jane/Sharpe romance.

Kind regards,

Alasdair M