Your Questions

Did you ever consider writing a sequel to Gallows Thief, which for me, after Sharpe in general, was my favourite book?

Regards

Dan

I have read everything of yours I can get my hands on. I wonder if you ever considered writing about Sharpe’s daughter?  If you have I’ve missed it.  I would love to see her find her father. Just a thought.  Your work has been a source of escape from the reality of 40 years of criminal defense and seeing the harsh realities of the depths people will take their lives.

Thank you

Joe Ledford

Just about to start reading War Lord. Will be sad to see the last of Uhtred. Not sure if you have "naval" interests but would love to see you writing about the RN in the Napoleonic War times - I am sure you would rival Patrick O'Brian and Alexander Kent if you put your mind to it!

Barry McNamara

Mr. Cornwell:

My name is Sam Tyndall and I am from the United States. Let me start out saying my wife and I are big fans of The Saxon Stories and The Last Kingdom programme. I know your protagonist is fiction, but loosely based on historical accounts. I have read that you are a descendant of Uhtred the Bold and in doing research I have traced my lineage back to the Tyndales of Northumbria area and around the Tyne River. It is suggested that the Tyndales intermingled with some of Uhtred’s clan but I can’t find any proof of this. Uchtred, Lord of Tyndale whom married Bethoc Canmore of Scotland and lived around 1100 is as far as I can go. His sons were Uchtred Fitz Uchtred and Robert de Tyndale. I’m sure the name may have been common, as in Michael or David today, but maybe there is a shared connection. Adding to the mystery is the timeline, as Uchtred was born around 1074, long after Uhtred the Bold passed and leading to the slight possibility that Uhtred’s offspring may have intermingled with my family? Descendants of The Tyndales also spread from Northumbria to Ireland with a faction of the clan settling there. My DNA profile (if you believe those) is overwhelmingly Scottish, northern England and Northern Europe (Denmark).  I was just curious if, in your research, you came across any known links to the two families.

Thank you for the entertaining reads. Many blessings to you and yours.

 

Cheers,

Sam Tyndall

Hi Mr. Cornwell,

I just want to say a huge (and belated) thank you for giving us the Warlord Chronicles. I was just ten years old when i started reading them and now I'm 21 and doing a degree in Medieval History. It was your stories that first got me interested in Anglo-Saxon England and i honestly don't know what I'd be studying now if I'd never come across them (probably something incredibly dull!)

I know we've probably seen the end of Uhtred, but would you ever consider writing about Anglo-Saxon England again? I'm sure your fans would love to hear about Uhtred's grandchildren for example!

Arman Razak

 

Hello Bernard,

I just finished War Lord and I am both melancholic to see Uhtred who has been with me since I was five and my mum read me the Lords of the North every night before bed and happy to finally get to see his story end. I am now twenty-three, I wear an amulet of Thor around my neck and when I am afraid, I always clasp it and ask myself, "what would Uhtred do?" I thought your choice to end his story with Brunanburh was perfect and I remember years back when you first introduced Æthelstan I wondered if that was where Uhtred’s story was leading. The question I had was whether you had the aspirations to make any further novels in the Anglo-Saxon period? I think of Æthelred the Unready and his son Edmund Ironside being faced by Canute the Great. Surely the Lords of Bebbanburg continued to rule in the 11th century? Even if you do not, I think these stories have done something great. I major in History at Carleton University in Ottawa and my studies have been in no small part inspired by years of reading your novels and I imagine there are many others who have fallen in love with history thanks to you. Looking forward to reading Sharpe’s Assassin and thank you for inspiring me down my educational path, I don’t know where I would be if I had not read your books but as Uhtred would say, wyrd bið ful aræd.

Warm regards,

David Damas

 

Mr. Cornwell,

 

Just finished 1356. Your book reminded me of a question I've had for some time. Basically, why did past civilizations reach a technological point, then stop development? Let me explain.

In the past 600 years technology has advanced to the point where nearly every large group of people on earth knows mankind has walked on the moon. Yet Rome existed for far longer than 600 years without creating railroads, telegraphs, internal combustion engines, or weapons to stop barbarian hordes. Rome had the need for more power/technology, but kept doing things the way they'd been doing them for centuries. The same can be said for other civilizations that reached a level and stopped: Egypt, China, Aztec, American Indian, Asian India, the list goes on. What happened that has put Man on its current technical swing? I believe the event was the 100 Years War.

The conflict possessed multiple features which in combination jump-started today's technical development:

1. Proximity of combatants with just enough space between them to prevent complete victory or lasting peace.
2. The appearance of gunpowder as a new catalyst unlike anything known before.
3. Perhaps most important, an openness to trying new ideas/tactics (aka artillery) after the first 80+ years of conflict because of the destruction of France's ruling class through combat and plague.
4. Now toss in Gutenberg within a few decades to publish results of new ideas/tactics and the expansion of .trade.

All the above combined to jump start Man's technical development. Have I misinterpreted the significance or the 100 Years War? Would you like to share any insights?

Thank you for reading a longer e-mail than I planned. Also, thank you for your response.

Sincerely,

Paul Ackerman

so, there i was enraptured with your series when i get some information on my family history that includes the names thorkil and uhtred. and while many of my family sites claim to have been there around the time of william the conqueror i was wondering if you had encountered the name cleveland, cleaveland, or de cliveland. i know you have much better and more important things to do, so thank you in advance for seeing this.

 

i am a cleveland descended of moses who came here in 1635; the northern branch. i actually met someone who was from the southern branch (cromwell's mistress) as a traveling notary - go figure;)

 

from of all places, tempe, az.....

sincerely,

tom hencz

Just finished the Archer’s Tale.  Couldn’t put it down.  Your The Last Kingdom Series hooked me, my two sons and my grandson on your books.  Who was inspiration for Henry Colley in the Archer’s tale?

Michael A. Collley

Hi.

Just a big thank you as a dyslexic child of the 70s I only ever read one book. The machine gunners by Robert Westhall. At 15 I was lent the first Sharp, I read it (hard when you struggle) it went straight on my Christmas list for a reread. I have had everyone of your books for Christmas or birthday when they come out since. I now read other authors but always yours first. Looking back I think unexpectedly for me the Warlord Chronicles are my favourite but also can't wait for Thomas and his bow to get back into action. I know you repeatedly say no more Starbucks, so please don't leave them both. I probably would never have read another book without sharp so thanks again. Please keep going.

Kind regards

Ian

 

Thank you so much for the adventures of Derfel and Uhtred.  Truly two of the greatest protagonists to come out of literature.

Regarding other great protagonists...would you consider, at the least, a short story that might provide closure to the Starbuck Chronicles?  Having grown to care for the characters it would soothe my mind greatly to have a vague idea of where they found themselves at war's end.

Thanks again for the hours of entertainment, distraction, and inspiration.

Shep

 

 

Hi Bernard

I have just finished reading 'Warlord' -a brilliant ending to a wonderful saga.

It was a surprise to me that history has not recorded the site of the Battle of Brunanburh. I know that you favour a site in the Wirral but on YouTube I found an argument put forward by Professor Michael Wood that the battle took place at Burghwallis in South Yorkshire. I wondered if you had seen his lecture. His argument seems convincing:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-C_DjWU2HnA&t=5s

Regards

John