I've just finished reading the last Sharpe novel 'Sharpe's Devil' and one of the things that made me particularly want to read it was Don Blas Vivar. I loved the character in Rifles and he seems to represent something of an old world as it were, in fact between him and Cochrane you see two sides of an old coin, I think. There is so much of the dark or crude side of humanity in your novels (which is good) but it is even better to see something of the good or righteous side so strongly and wholly represented. I wondered if you felt any admiration for the character you created. Or does he represent some values or characteristics you respect perhaps of men you have known? As an aside I want also to mention that I thought the book was brilliant and the twist at the end was excellent especially the way it was tied into the action. I saw in an interview once you said you didn't think the book worked, well it worked for me! Thank you for writing it and all the Sharpes.
Gary Watson
I felt great affection for Blas Vivar . . . an honourable man. I don't think Sharpe is dishonourable, he's just willing to cut corners in a way that Blas Vivar wouldn't, and it's enjoyable to write characters like Vivar - Peleg Wadsworth, in The Fort, is another such. Good men, both!