Your Questions

Q

Dear Bernard

I know you've said your next book is Sharpe again which if I had a guess would be Rolica and Vimero but I wondered if you'd ever thought about doing any on the French and Indian War such as Wolfe and Montcalm and Quebec ?  A truly fascinating campaign

Regards

Geraint

 

Submitted December 30, 2021

A

I think Wolfe was a brilliant officer and I’ve been reading about him recently, so yes I am considering his story, but can make no promises.  I suspect he would have made a better commander during the revolution, but there are too many unknowns that make it impossible to know what that would have accomplished.

Q

Dear Mr Cornwell,

I just had to contact you as I have read your books and now watched The Last Kingdom. Fantastic on both.

I would never have the skills to write , however I thought I might suggest to you something that is dear to my heart.

As a proud Borderer brought up with the tales of the Border Reivers I thought it might be a future project for you.

Kindest regards

David Roseburgh

Submitted December 30, 2021

A

Thank you!  But I think George MacDonald Fraser did it much better than I could!

Q

I have read all your books starting way back with Sharp. You have always been able to transport me into which ever world that you wrote of and have given me many blissful hours. I was a little disappointed that you abandoned the Starbuck Chronicles but I recovered and continued on with your other works but I cannot believe that you are not going to complete The Last Kingdom. A new Sharpe has me excited but how can you just stop in the middle of a series

Chris Turner

Submitted December 30, 2021

A

The Last Kingdom series of books is complete!  The thirteenth and final book is 'War Lord' - published last year (http://www.bernardcornwell.net/books/war-lord/)

 

 

Q

I thoroughly enjoyed reading both your Saxon Tales and Sharpe series I read every book including your new book Sharpe's Assassin.  Being born in England and now living in the US, I enjoyed the English history in both books.  Am I correct in assuming that due to the approximate 5 year gap between Sharpe's Ransom (In Sharpe's Christmas and Sharpe's Devil that you intend to write more books in this series and do you also intend to write more in the Saxon Tales after War Lord?  Thanks for your reply and I also look forward to reading more of your books including Agincourt which I had not yet read.

Pete Harvey

Submitted December 21, 2021

A

I do not have plans for more books in The Last Kingdom series, but....another Sharpe is a possibility!

Q

Hi Bernard,

my name is Mike Kamminga and I’m a big fan. I’ve recently read about this Pirate Black Sam Bellamy.

https://www.cbc.ca/radio/asithappens/as-it-happens-the-thursday-edition-1.5910708/skeletons-discovered-in-the-wreckage-of-legendary-pirate-black-sam-bellamy-s-ship-1.5912854

 

I thought this might be right up your alley, combining sailing and history. I’m not sure if there’s a story there or not. What do you think?

 

Warmest regards,

Mike

Submitted December 18, 2021

A

I do toy with the idea...and it's very tempting...

Q

Hi there!

I'm currently re-reading the Saxon Tales and I recall you stating that you have direct lineage to the family of Uhtred of Bebbanburg and I was very curious as to how you were able to track your ancestry! I have been attempting to track my ancestry for years but I can only find definitive records as far back as the sixteenth century. I find it so interesting that you're able to connect yourself to a family from a millennia ago!

Sarah Whitaker

Submitted December 18, 2021

A

I really don’t know too much about my ancestors – the Uhtred of the books is invented (though there was a man by that name in that period).  What I know was discovered by a member of my birth family.  The surname is distinctive enough to make them quite easy to trace through a tangle of records. I haven't double-checked the Oughtred family's research, but there is a genealogist in the family, and his researches do appear to be accurate, and we have records of the family stretching right back to the post-Roman period.  The family never lost its high status (an Oughtred was one of the founding knights of the Garter), and high status does often seem to go with such record-keeping.

Q

Dear Bernard,

I have two questions (if that’s allowed). I’ll keep it short. One is sensible, one is.. not so sensible. The sensible question:

The battle of Hastings, has it ever been or ever will be in your plans as either a stand alone novel or series?

The not so sensible question:

A prime Uhtred of Bebbanburg and a prime Richard Sharpe are drinking in the same tavern. They get into a brawl. Who are you putting your money on?

Best wishes,

Luke

Submitted December 18, 2021

A

I have given Hastings some thought....but it is not high on the list.

They're as good as each other, which is all you'll get from me!

Q

Dear Bernard,

I always wondered what would Nick Hook think of the Maid Joan of Arc , given she also heard voices in her head too. Will you ever have them meet, how would they

get on  ? Which leads to the next question ; Do you plan on writing a Sequel on Azincourt ?

And this video about the Siege of Orleans that maybe of interest to watch for you and other readers https://youtu.be/fn_rAGGpbBE

Geraint

Submitted December 3, 2021

A

I can’t imagine Hook getting on too well with Joan of Arc  - she was evidently a difficult character. And I have no plans to follow Azincourt, though it’s a possibility – a long shot.

 

Q

I have to admit this is my first reading of one of your novels (Sharps Waterloo) though you reputation for accurate research is legendary. My query or comment is you talk about the sensitively inaccuracy of the Brown Bess type muskets which I know to be accurate.  My query is, if they are firing into a relatively dense  group of the enemy,  would it matter if their musket ball did not hit the enemy aimed at but another? Indeed knowing the inaccuracy did they aim at all.

Regards

Tim Tilbrook

Submitted December 3, 2021

A

It didn’t matter in the least and indeed that’s the whole point of volley fire – that knowing the muskets were inherently inaccurate if you poured enough lead in the right direction then some of the balls were bound to hit. It worked. There was an interesting Prussian experiment when a battalion was given a solid target one hundred feet in width and six feet high – more or less the front rank of a French column – and told to shoot at it. At 225 yards only 25% of the shots hit the target, at 150 yards 40% hit, and at 75 yards 60% of the volley struck the target.  And those results are from a well-trained battalion of professionals who were not under fire.

Q

i firstly would like to say i was overwhelmed with the storyline of the last kingdom and also the grail quest...i was wondering if the grail quest will be brought to the tv the same as sharpe and the last kingdom?

John Ditchburn

Submitted December 3, 2021

A

I am not aware of any plans for it.