Your Questions

Any thoughts of following Sweet William from Canada to New Orleans?
William McKenzie

Dear Mr Cornwell,

I am writing to ask if you will delve into the area of civil wars within England. I have been enthralled by the adventures of Uhtred and Thomas Hookton not to mention your wonderful story of Azincourt. My question is if you have ever considered writing about the Anarchy, the Wars of the Roses, or The English Civil Wars. I look forward to your reply.

Many Thanks

James

Dear Bernard,
In your book "The Burning Land 2009" page 271, you wrote that Uhtred
celebrated x-mas in the "Viking Hall" with a x-mas tree, decorated
with miscellaneous things!
But the x-mas tree did not exist at this time, indoors or outdoors.
And the nordic vikings (from Norway, Sweden and Denmark) had no
knowledge about x-mas tree at all this time,
(890 after Christ). The use of x-mas tree came to the nordic countrys,
from germany, in the 1700's.

But in England at this time, i don't know?
Please, tell me about it! It's interesting to know
if they had x-mas tree at all?
By the way, your books about Uhtred ARE AMAZING!
I love them all! Thank you Bernard.

Regards,
Conny Moberg,
Nynäshamn,
Sweden.

Dear Mr Cornwell,

Having been illicitly reading Sharp books since the age of 9, and having now read all your books apart from the Starbuck Chronicles, I think its fair to say that characters like Uhtred, Derfel and Sharpe have certainly had an impact on the formation of my own character.

So first of all I just wanted to thank you for all the wonderful stories and characters that you have created! Secondly I just wanted to ask a couple of questions; do you think the central characters in your stories (As far as fictional characters can be) make good role models for young men? Does the common sense, anti-religious authority, knowledge of right and wrong that many of your main characters exhibit reflect your own attitudes? And would you agree that Derfel was a 'better' man than Uhtred is?

Thanks once again and long may you keep up the good work!
Clive

Hi Mr Cornwell,

I've just finished The Pale Horseman and I loved it and cannot wait for my next 'Bernard' as my wife and I talk about. I'm from Northern Ireland and interested in researching Ireland and the time of the Norsemen here, with a view to putting some historical fiction together - can you recommend a good place to begin and continue this research? Thank you!
John Law

Dear Mr Cornwell,

I am an avid reader of your books and would like to say thank you for the many hours of enjoyment. I Am in the process of reading all of your works. I am currently half way through the Sharpe's and have read all the Saxon stories and the Warlord Chronicles.

I would like to ask a question about each if I may. Firstly, in The Winter King you and Nimue to the Isle of the Dead. I was wondering if this was based on an actual place or practice of the time? If it is would you be able to recommend any reading material.

Secondly, in The Last Kingdom when the Danes ravage the Northern monasteries and nunneries they find a huge pile of parchments with writing on. Would this by any chance be the chronicles of Arthur as penned by Derfel? Or is this just my vivid imagination?

Once again I would like to say thank you for the many hours of enjoyment and cannot wait until the latest novel is release. I also look forward to reading your non fiction work on Waterloo.

I hope you are well,
Luke Fieldhouse

Dear Sir,

Thanks for all your work. It is a long time since I marched with Sharpe but I came across this riddle and it inspired me to rekindle my acquaintance with the warrior. Anyway here is my attempt at you riddle:
"Take you out, put me in and a horse appears in this happy person."
1.       'Take you out' = Could be 'U' as one would think. However if one takes it as a homophone it could be the 'Y' (yuh).
2.       'Put me in' = Either the definitive 'me' or as more likely 'me' as in 'I'.
3.       A horse appears = More on this anon.
4.       This Happy Person = Joyous in middle English is  'Blithe', or more commonly 'BLYTHE'.
Applying clues  1& 2. One removes the 'Y' and replaces it with 'I'. One gets BLITHE, also pronounced BLIGH (not sure what happens to the 'E').
Clue 3. From BLITH it is not a great leap to get to Noel COWARD's 1940s play 'BLYTHE SPIRIT'.  In the early part of this century (when this riddle was set) there was a horse by the name of 'BLYTHE SPIRIT' hammering the tracks of the USA (where, Sir, you have set up your home).  It is now the name of yet another horse doing the rounds within the UK.
Argument.
I believe that Richard Sharpe's father is one Vice Admiral William BLIGH (of the Bounty fame). It is believed that Richard was born on 26th June 1777, thereby making his conception in September 1776. However, it could be argued that a women of such free morals could well have got her 'dates' wrong.
On 20th March 1776, Bligh signed on as 'master ' of HMS Resolution, which sailed on James COOKE's final voyage on 12th July 1776. It is quite conceivable that the young BLIGH (then single and 22 years) travelled to 'the smoke' for a last hurrah before embarking to the other side of the world. This most probably being the weekend before sailing and thus on 5/6/7JUL1776. This gives Sharpe's conception as being at a time of great military tumult and quite possibly on the day of the 'Declaration of Independence'.
Conclusion.
Sir, I therefore respectfully submit that Vice Admiral William BLIGH is the father of Lt. Col. Richard 'Dick' Sharpe.

Thank you again for the hours of pleasure and the relief of my kin having to think too hard about presents for me.

Yours,
Bob H-I

Dear Bernard
I have read all your Sharpe books in chronological order and just loved them. My mum was even reading me Sharpe between contractions when I was in labour! When I read Sharpe's Story I assumed it was all over but then I found out you planned to write more. I was a bit over excited at this prospect but it's been 6 years and still no Sharpe! Do you have an estimated time frame for him?
I also wanted to ask about William Frederickson. I can't help but feel desperately sad for the way things ended for him with Lucia and Richard. Why did you feel that was the right ending to that situation?
Last question I promise! I thought Sean bean did a great job portraying Sharpe in the films but my dad always felt he wasn't quite right and thought Gerard Butler would have been a better match. How did you imagine him in relation to these two men?
I truly love reading your stories, so rich in history and action! They are just brilliant. Thank you for bringing Sharpe to life!
Tamsin

Mr. Cornwell

How do you think Richard Sharpe would have reacted if one of his mates had had his head hacked off while walking the streets of London, just because he was a British soldier?  Do you think Sharpe would try to understand the perpetrator's 'grievances'?  Would he urge his countrymen to be more sensitive and accommodating to the perpetrators so as to avoid offending them again in the future?   Would he lecture his fellow soldiers about not getting too upset, and warn them against being Islamaphobic?  I really couldn't say what he would do, being that he is your creation, not mine.
Mike

Are you planing on using the mystery of Ulfberht in one of your books? Or is Uhtred sword in fact a Ulfberht sword? Also are you going to explore the role of the church in dealing weapons? Love your work.

David