Your Questions

I have read most of your books twice. I have enjoyed your researched subjects, your meticulous portrayal of battles and have been overwhelmed by your imagination in building your characters. As a person who would like to write historical fiction and imbue his characters with character and dialog, I am, like Nathaniel Starbuck, terrified and afraid of the battle to write well.

After this confession, my question is: when may we expect Starbuck to March again, as promised in 1996? Thank you for your stories and your time.

Eduardo Wolle

 

I'm sure you hear this all the time... I am a huge fan and have been for decades. Starting with the Sharpe's series when I was a child. Many a night I was caught reading of his exploits, well after bed time... lol. And when our local PBS  station started showing the BBC televised show..... had a sore butt for a week for sneaking into my dad's den to watch it. Here's my question.... lol, right turn..  are you going to continue the Starbuck chronicles? I have been wanting to ask for years. And I know time is growing short for me. You did say in the last book that there was more to come, 1000's are waiting. Current political junk set aside, it does bring a different aspect of the war to light, and forces the public to address questions certain people choose to ignore, because its unpopular. Thank you for years of entertaining reading and do hope you respond.

Cheers

Casey Scultz

 

Sir,

As a lifelong resident two miles outside of Washington County Maryland across the Pennsylvania line, I desperately need to know what happened to Nathaniel Starbuck after the battle of Antietam?!? Please write a fifth book for him. The Bloody Ground was written 25 years ago and the last line was that he would march again. My dad and I read your books together as our own book club of two and have argued endlessly about his fate.  Even if you didn’t write him a last book, maybe you can just tell me in the end if he married Sally or the nurse who jilted poor Adam? Did Delaney get his reward for spying? And Blythe gets shot down the way he deserved? Such an excellent series and I, and I am sure many others so badly would love just one more. Thanks for your outstanding work, we have read all of the Last Kingdom, The Harlequin series, and Stonehenge. But Starbuck is my absolute favorite

Best wishes,

Emily

Dear Bernard

In all your Archer novels, which are all great I should say, I noticed that you never  had either Thomas or Nick Hook go up against other Archers. Yet the Scots also used Archers and were deployed at Verneuil  I believe. I wondered if any future Novels will feature an Archer v Archer novel.

Just curious but how well did the 95th and the 60th do when they went up against the Americans in 1812 who did how Rifle units at New Orleans and Maine  ?

Regards

Geraint

Hello Mr. Cornwell,

I do not know how to begin this message, but I felt compelled to contact you. I am a 23 year old male from Houston Texas and I have fallen in love with your Saxon Tales series. I am an engineer by profession, but I have always loved history and reading and I have never experienced a series of books that interest me so much. Your series has quickly become my favorite of all time. I am currently on book 11 in the series and I look forward to reading it every night before bed. The way you show the progression of Uhtred's life in a realistic way I find very interesting. I feel like I am actually sitting and listening an elder tell me a story about his warrior days. It makes me sad to hear in passing from Uhtred when a character like Beocca or Ragnar the younger. However, I do appreciate this way of informing the reader of their deaths because it makes it feel more realistic. Most people in real life do not go out with a dramatic sword to the back. I do have a question about Odda the elder. I apologize if I have missed this, but I do not recall a resolution to his character in the books. What happened to Odda the elder?

I could write all day about things that I like about the series,  My favorite book so far is still the very first one.

Thank you,

Michael Diaz

Did we meet Sharpe's father in Assassin? I suspect we did and I suspect Sharpe gave him a thrashing. I won't say the name for reasons of spoiling the plot for people still reading.

Can we confirm this?

 

James Trethowan

Book was brilliant by the way.

Dear Bernard

if you're taking Sharpe back again as a 2nd lieutenant, well Wellington in 1806 was for a time in Hanover, now he didn’t do much there but Sharpe could maybe nip over to Prussia and meet the Iron Marshal and get the Battle of Auerstadt a truly extraordinary victory. Sharpe really should meet Davout at least once, what do you think they'd make of each other ?

Regards

Geraint

P.S if you've not read it, I can recommend Gary Gallagher biography on Davout a great read. If Napoleon had listened to him the course of history might have been different

 

 

Hi, Bernard.

Over the years I have been an avid reader of almost all your books. It all started with a given book of one of the Sharpe's series. I especially enjoyed your books that had characters of the "Long Bowmen". This has led me on a crusade to form some study of the Bow. It seems incredible that the big war bows had a pull of 130lb plus. Now I have a question that you may have heard of the answer to. It refers to the "Bodkin arrow". It was said that it could pierce plate armour, But to do this it had to hit directly square, otherwise it would glance off. In 2011 I was on holiday in Northern Ireland & visited Carrickfergus castle in Belfast. On display there is a collection of some long bow equipment containing Bodkin Arrows. I entered into a discussion with the curator there & we talked about the arrows. I mentioned about them having to hit square to penetrate, otherwise glancing off. He said that they overcame this problem by putting a small ball of wax on the tip & this evidently solved the problem. Have you ever heard of this in your researches?

I would like to thank you sincerely for many hours of fascinating reading & a great deal of history lessons. I have just finished the final book in the Uhtred  of Bebbanburg, "War Lord". I hope Netflix make it the final to the :Last Kingdom Series"

Kind Regards,

Dave Green.

Just finished Sharpe's Assassin and it's a fitting end to the series (assuming you don't write more). ...

My question is, why did Price never get promoted to Major?  He's certainly earned it with his steady leadership of the Light Company over the years.  Couldn't afford it or just happy in his role?

Chris Horry

I am an avid reader of all books written by you Mr Cornwell.  I have all the Saxon Novels and the  Archer Series.  I have started once again on the Sharpe series & wish to know, as I can't remember, which Sharpe novel has the British Army looting the French baggage wagons & has Sgt Harper filling the saddlebags with "loot".  Much appreciated as I would like to reacquire this novel once again as I previously enjoyed it greatly.  I look forward to your response.

Tom Dworzanski

 

Hi,

I just finished reading the Saxon Chronicles, although I tend to think of them as the Uhtred Saga. I would love additional books about Uhtred, Finan or really anything regarding the Anglo-Saxons, Danelaw, Vikings in Britain, etc; however, I recognize you have previously said you're unsure about that.

 

My actual question is about things you mention in your historical notes: that the pre-Norman conquest history of England is often overlooked, even in England. I was wondering if you have any idea why that is?

 

In high school (USA) I had a literature class where we read Beowulf, Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, and the Canterbury Tales (all translated to Modern English). One of the things I liked about that class was that it was as much about the historical context as the literature itself, which is also why I appreciate that you include a historical note with each novel!

 

Take care,

Liam

Loved the Last Kingdom series from the first book to last and it has inspired my thirst knowledge of all things late Anglo-Saxon period. Just reading Marc Morris' superb new(ish) book "The Anglo-Saxons" and in the section about Athelstan he refers on several occasions to an "Ealdred of Bamburgh" - especially in respect of the gathering in Cumbria that Athelstan integrated. Is this same person as Uhtred? Is Ealdred merely an alternative name for Uhtred in AS times? Intrigued as Michael Wood also referred to the same event in one of his TV programmes and clearly referred to "Uhtred of Bamburgh (or Bebbanberg).

Phil Whitehead