Your Questions

Q

You said something to the effect that we know with assurance that the cause (the Southron cause) was wrong.  I find this shockingly unfair.  I don't know anyone my age in America who is a Union sympathizer.  I think popular opinion in America today is for the Confederacy, and I am completely perplexed as to why you would think otherwise.  Don't people have the right to rule themselves?
Earl

Submitted April 18, 2013

A

Tell me, do the slaves have the right to rule themselves?  And, please, don’t give me that argument about ‘states’ rights’. You really think a majority in America are in favor of slavery? I’m writing this in the depths of Dixie, and I love the south and I’m surrounded by friends who are passionate southrons, but even the most fervent do not defend ‘the peculiar institution’. We’ve romanticized the south, and no wonder, but that doesn’t detract from the uncomfortable truth that it was on the wrong side of an argument.

Q

Dear Mr Cornwell,
I've been re-reading the whole Sharpe series recently, and in "Sharpe's Fury", I came across something I couldn't figure out. At the very end of Part 1, Henry Wellesley notes that there was another man who would help him besides Sharpe, but was doubtful to succeed. Who is this man?
Kevin Ly

Submitted April 18, 2013

A

Oh dear, I have no idea!  I just re-read the chapter and I still don’t have a clue. The trouble is I wrote the book so long ago, and have written so much since, that I’ve forgotten. Maybe it wasn’t at the end of Part One?

Q

Is Uhtred based on Eric Bloodaxe?  love ur books long may they continue.

cheers .

steve

Submitted April 18, 2013

A

No, he’s entirely based on my imagination.

Q

Hi there!

I would just like to take the opportunity to say how brilliant I think The Warlord Trilogy are - as if you need to be told. I think that the stories and characters are some of the best I have ever come across. The stories are just filled with the tiniest details, which are, I believe what makes them such special books. My brother bought me The Winter King for my thirteenth birthday and I admit, I found it tough at first and gave up, until the end of the summer whilst in Cornwall on holiday, when I picked it up again. I finished it within a couple of weeks and had to buy the next two. I have subsequently read Stonehenge, and the Saxon books (for which I eagerly await the next) and have embarked upon the Grail Quest series. Although I absolutely love these books, especially the Saxon Stories, I still favour the Warlord Trilogy. I am nearly sixteen and have always been a keen reader, writer and historian - so you're books are perfect for me! At the moment I am writing short
stories and poetry. I hope to write novels in the future and have begun to loosely plan some ideas. Lastly, I would just like to ask how long it took you to write The Winter King? With all the research it must have taken such a long time, but I am so glad you poured all that time into it and all your books. So, thank you for writing the way you do and I hope you never stop.

Kind Regards,

Cam.

Submitted April 18, 2013

A

How long to write The Winter King?  A remarkably short time!  I had given myself six months to research the period and I remember getting very bored with the research after about three months and, one day in late September, I thought I’d experiment with a first person voice so told myself I’d write one chapter, and it took off and the book was practically finished by Christmas. So three months, though there was another three months of rewriting.

Q

Dear Bernard,
Despite decades away from your homeland, I was wondering if you still/ever followed an English soccer team. If so which one and why?
Thanks for your time and your wonderful stories.
Stephen.

Submitted April 18, 2013

A

I follow English rugby and cricket, but not any soccer team, sorry.

 

Q

Dear Mr. Cornwell,
As a Swedish-American, I moved to Waterloo, Belgium with my wife in 1998 - started with 'Sharpe's Waterloo' and have since read all your books with great pleasure; now on '1356'
I especially like the way you give your characters intelligent, yet biting sense of humor in their comments and observations.
In this regard, I wonder if you ever came across a Swedish author by the name of Frans G. Bengtsson, who wrote "The Long Ships" in 1945 - the viking main character is Röde Orm, and is also a brilliant read... (made into a B-movie with Richard Widmark)
I agree with Lee Child, another recent favorite; "nobody does this better than you!"
Best personal regards,
Thomas

Submitted April 18, 2013

A

I remember the movie! Alas, I haven’t read the book.

Q

Sharpe's father - Could it possibly have been the second to last person to swing at Tyburn,  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Hackman  James Hackman?  He certainly seems to have been roguish enough, has the horsey-word "Hack" as part of his name and somehow it occurred to me that a member of the clergy being executed for murder might have caught your eye.
Matt

Submitted April 18, 2013

A

That’s so ingenious that I wish I’d thought of it. But I didn’t!

Q

I am reading The Burning Land and Mercia is oft mentioned, is there any history linking Murcia Spain to Mercia UK?
I have tried looking but so far no info perhaps you can give a clue to help

Bill

Submitted April 18, 2013

A

Absolutely none as far as I’m aware – merely a coincidence of names.

Q

I enjoy all your books, since moving to live in Germany, I find myself reading more and more so it's good to have such a prolific writer.....but....I'm now on the last of your books, The Bloody Ground and am a little bit frustrated that it seems to be finishing with quite a bit of the war to go and I like the Starbuck character, he is in my opinion a lot more interesting than Sharpe. So, now the million dollar question, when will you write the fifth book? I see you are busy with Uhtred right now and I will read this when it does appear but I think Starbuck has been idle for too long so it's time to get back to him. You say on this website that he is too similar to Sharpe and I totally understand but, it's been quite a while since Sharpe now...
thanks
John

OK,  so I am sure you may have been asked this before but I couldn't find anything on the Internet. I love all your series and in the last Starbuck book at the back I believe you state that he will return!! Is this in the pipeline. Oh and if it isn't obvious I love all your writing!!
Dave

Is Starbuck forever left halfway through the civil war? At least Sharpe got to retire in France with his wife.
John Bush

Submitted April 17, 2013

A

I do hope to get back to Starbuck one of these days!

Q

Dear Mr Cornwell,

Given the similarity of the names "Thomas of Hookton" (Crecy, Poitiers) and "Nicholas Hook" (Azincourt), is there any likelihood in your plotting of a family connection, or just a pure coincidence?

Congratulations on another winner "1356".  What's next?

I look forward to reading your response.  Thank you.
David Kiehl

Submitted April 17, 2013

A

I don't think so. I took the name Nicholas Hook from the muster roll of the archers who really were at Agincourt and it just happened to be the name I liked best and, by coincidence, shared the Hook with Hookton.

 

My next book will be The Pagan Lord, the 7th book of the Warrior Chronicles.  Hope to see it published in the UK in September.