Your Questions

Q

Dear Bernard

In furtherance to Perraud's post, on the 16th Dulong was also promoted to Colonel and fought at the Battle of Albuera, and commanded the French rearguard after the battle.

Could Sharpe encounter him again ?

Yours sincerely

Geraint

Submitted August 18, 2016

A

Maybe?

Q

Hello, Mr's Cornwell,

my name is Lucas, i from Brazil(sorry for the errors in the english, i don't write much in english), i'm a fan from you work, you do a amazing job in every detail of your books, i really like then.

I have a sugestion of a series to you, and that is in the Ancient Rome, the period with the barbarians atacking Rome, seens very interesting for a book.

Thank's for you amazing job, long life for you.

Lucas Cassalho da Silva

Submitted August 18, 2016

A

I don't have plans for the Romans, sorry!

Q

Dear Bernard

You have said in the past that a number of people have asked if you would write more about Sharpe's son Patrick Lassan. As he is a French officer I wondered if you had ever considered writing a spin-off novel about him, as the French war in Mexico happened at the same time as the US civil war.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/French_intervention_in_Mexico

Yours sincerely

Geraint

Submitted August 18, 2016

A

No plans for it.

Q

Hello Mr. Cornwell

I am a big fan of historical fiction (not just by you, though I have read more of your works than any others).  Anyway, I was fascinated by some tidbits that appear in many of your novels dealing with religious relics, things such as bones of saints, wood from Noah's ark, the bones of a fish from the miracle of the loaves and fishes, among many numerous other references.

I know that I am reading fiction, but I assume that there is some basis for these references.  I was hoping to find out more about this topic - how prevalent was the use of these relics, the church's view on their use, etc.  Hopefully you haven't previously addressed this in your web sites 'Your Questions' section - I started going thru the articles there and did several searches but didn't find anything definitive.

Thank you.

Ernie Seider

 

Submitted August 16, 2016

A

How prevalent? Relics were everywhere! They infested the church; enough scraps of the True Cross to build Noah’s ark ten times over! And relics are still venerated in the Catholic tradition, though these days they are far more likely to be genuine. From very early in the church’s history the relics of saints or, most valuable of all, artefacts that could be associated with Christ or his mother, became highly prized. They were tangible ‘proof’ of the truth of the faith, and they provided a channel through which prayers could be said. Naturally enough a huge trade in fake relics sprang up, and rich people and institutions were willing to pay vast sums to acquire some rarity. The greed generated by this trade was one of the root causes of the Reformation and, largely speaking, Protestant churches do not venerate relics. I make huge fun of relics in the Uhtred novels because they’re easily mocked, and almost all the ones I mentioned do exist, or existed, but properly used a relic could be a powerful symbol and a source of hope and inspiration. They still exist, of course, , especially in southern Europe where they lie in their beautiful reliquaries on high altars.

Q

Hi

I was wondering if you might be able to clarify something for me please. I've read through the Sharpe series quite a few times and watched the television series many more times but something I've wondered about is did Sharpe ever actually fully leave the 95th rifles and join the South Essex after Sharpe's Eagle or was he on detachment to them for the remainder of the Peninsular war?

I know he kept his green jacket as did Harper and the men he brought from the 95th. There were quite a few mentions of the fact that though he had a brevet Majority his official army rank was still a Captain so was this his 95th rank and the brevet his temporary South Essex rank?

Thanks and regards

Matthew

Submitted August 16, 2016

A

The quick answer is yes. The brevet was a ‘temporary’ appointment, so even when Sharpe leads the South Essex and can wear the marks of a Lieutenant-Colonel, his ‘real’ rank is still Captain. It was, mostly, a wartime expedient. A lot of rules and regulations were happily ignored during the wars; Wellington never gave a damn about the appearance of his troops so long as they fought like the devil. After the wars, of course, all the tedious regulations were re-imposed.

 

Q

Hi again, Mr. Cornwell.

I get the impression from reading the Uhtred novels that the Vikings never really made any significant inroads into Scotland, certainly not to be compared with their successes in Northumbria, East Anglia and Mercia.  Why was this?  Did they not think that the Scottish countryside was worth the effort?  Or were the Scots so tough that they mostly focused their efforts down south?

Alan Kempner

Submitted August 16, 2016

A

They made inroads where there was good arable land, but that, of course, is a scarcity in much of Scotland. They more or less took all the outlying islands, though those were used more as bases for their ships which were used for fishing and what we’d call piracy. Their real ambition was the best agricultural land that could sustain large settlements and those, as you say, were further south. But certainly they were a huge nuisance to the Scots, but eventually, as in England, married into the indigenous population and so ‘melted’ away.

 

Q

Hello Mr. Cornwell!

As a fellow writer, I have a question for you: what makes up a book? Why do you choose some time periods over others? Does one period offer more intrigue/easy research than the other?

Thanks and great work,

Nicolas

 

 

Submitted August 16, 2016

A

I choose time periods that fascinate me! Simple as that! And what makes a book? Story, story, story and then, story (a few good characters help too!)

Q

Hi, i am currently reading 1356 and really enjoy it; most likely going to be my favorite book if it continues the way it is going which i am sure it will. So i was wondering if there will be any more books following Thomas Hooktons story as i believe his plot and story to be extremely intriguing and different from other books. Thank you

Yousaf

Submitted August 16, 2016

A

No plans for more Thomas right now!

Q

I've just watched a documentary about the establishment of the US Marine Corps, and how (much as mentioned in your own writing), the earliest US Marines fought from ship decks, masts and yards with muskets. What caught my attention was they went on to say how, since musket balls were so inaccurate (compounded by the rolling of the ships), the marines often used a form of buckshot rather than regular musket balls, in effect turning their muskets into shotguns. Given Harper's motivation for lugging the gun around, wouldn't he use a similar load in his seven-barreled gun?

Ralph

Submitted August 16, 2016

A

Basically the Nock Volley gun was a ‘one-shot’ weapon. Once it was fired it took far too long to reload, and, in truth, it wasn’t very successful because of that, but imagine its effect on a crowded deck? That one shot would be devastating. Now, did they use the musket as a ‘shotgun’? It’s perfectly possible, and I don’t doubt that it happened, but there’s no evidence that cartridges were made with scrap metal missiles instead of balls, and now try to imagine being in the rigging of a ship trying to load a musket with metal scraps? I could well be wrong, perhaps there were buckshot cartridges, in which case the difficulty vanishes, but I’ve not heard of them. And the buckshot would need to be fairly heavy . . . musket balls were effective enough – as Nelson discovered.

Q

Dear Bernard

I have just started Warriors of the Storm and was delighted to hear this morning that this marvellous adventure will continue with your next book in the series to be released in October. I have already placed my order in Waterstones in Newry,Ireland. I have thoroughly enjoyed your books and hope that this is not the end of this story.  I couldn't help wondering if the story could continue through the character of Finan or some related character to Finan and the story of why he left Ireland.  The history of the Kingdom of Ossory, (the modern counties of Kilkenny and Laoise) in the 10th century and its interaction with the Dublin Norse Kingdom is a fascinating and very colourful period of history and linked to the Ui Neills.

Colm O Braonain

Submitted August 16, 2016

A

Alas, the Last Kingdom series is about the making of England, and the fascinating (and tortuous) story of Ireland is another matter entirely. Much as I love Finan I suspect he’ll stay in England. Sorry!