Your Questions

hi Bernard I was just wondering if you would consider doing a Sharpe prequel at all? eg Sharpe's life growing up as a young lad in Wapping? or when he lived in Sheffield? maybe you could include getting recruited by Hakeswill and his first battle in Flanders or possibly as a short story?

Matt Nicholls

In your Sharpe research did you ever discover why the British Army armed their riflemen with Baker Rifles and not breach loading Furguson Rifles?

rgm

Dear Mr Cornwell, First of all let me start by thanking you for all your works so far, I have been reading your books since I was 14 years old and enjoyed every one! The ones I have got the most enjoyment and inspiration from are without doubt the Arthur books, and it is these I have a question about. Can you kindly provide any information or further reading on the dream tower, as used by Merlin until it was burnt down? Did these really exist? I find it a very interesting concept, and would like to find out more and maybe try building one! Thank you very much, and I hope you continue to bring pleasure to countless people through your work for many years to come. Yours, Joe

Dear sir, I have realized from the many questions and answers here that you are an atheist and have a lot of scorn for religion. However, I have also gathered from the answers given, that you are aware of some of the positive consequences of religion/belief. While I may or may not agree with your views, I am a bit disappointed that you most times portray religious characters so negatively, when you seem to strive to be fair to other characters in your novels (the real ones, at least). In the Saxon novels, for example, while I realize that the story is told from the viewpoint of the pagan Uhtred, almost every Christian person is portrayed as either borderline crazy fanatics, stupid, selfish, cynical, plain evil or a combination. This is grossly unfair to the Christian people, priests, nuns and monks who did do a lot of good and who did care for their neighbours. So my question is this: Why not include a comment about this in the historical note at the end of each book? You did put in such a comment for example concerning Æthelred, who you admit to portraying unfairly in your books. Why not do the same regarding the priests and monks who appear frequently in your writing? Finally, I would like to thank you not only for all the great books, but for taking the time to answer people's questions here, the vast numbers of which impress me greatly - particularly seeing as you are such a hugely productive writer. This shows that you appreciate your many fans! Have a nice day! -Yngve-

Dear Mr, Cornwell I would like to beg your indulgence and ask a question which you may find frivolous or silly. In your excellent Saxon series, my all time favorite of your works, so far, you mention that the history of those times was written by priests, who would often change the facts to make some important personage sound better or worse than he was. Would this still apply in the 13th Century or even later? Would it be at all feasible to write about a royal personage being erased from the history books completely? I am writing a critique of The Outlaw of Torn by Edgar Rice Burroughs, which was written 100 years ago, this November. A historical romance, set in the years 1243-1264 and built on the premise that Henry III had two sons, the youngest Richard was kidnapped as an infant by De Vec, an enemy of the monarch. De Vec, a Frenchman raises the child as his own, names him Norman, teaches him swordsmanship and to hate all Englishmen. After many stirring adventures, Richard/Norman is restored to his Royal Family To explain the fictional Richard and his story, Burroughs explains: At first it was suppressed by one of the Plantagenet kings of England. Later it was forgotten. This always sounded a bit hastily contrived, but how else could it be explained? Regards, D. Peter Ogden

Mr. Cornwell, I own all the titles that are available in kindle format. I am moving to a different reader format that supports digital rights management(DRM) to enable public library use. I would like to petition that you ask your publisher to do the same so that people like me can purchase and donate ebook copies and donate them to public libraries. Thank you.

John Mire

Mr. Cornwell, First off, thank you for the Sharpe Series. Just one question that I can't see that you've answered. Sharpe retires to France ends up at Waterloo and then on to Peru. After the death of Rossendale what becomes of Jane? Does she become a "wh-re" as Sharpe suggests or something else. Again Thank you for such enjoyable reading. Cheers, Jim

Dear Cornwell; I'm from Turkey, I'd like to say a lot,but excuse me, my English very bad!. I love world history(Türks(turan),english,greek,rome) and I very love your books. Maybe you write something for the Crimean War, 1853,for Sharpe's, it would be nice :) Thank you, for your books. Serdar Arpac1o’lu

How is Uhtred pronounced exactly? Thanks.

Matthew

Hi Mr Cornwell, I have written to you before for various instances in the past. I am from Australia and am aspiring to be a writer myself. I ma up to publishing stage and will no doubt not find one due to how rubbish my book is. Nevertheless I will go on and in the same breath apologize for not having read 'the fort' at this time even though it sits patiently on my bedside. My question is simple and one that you may not be able to answer. When do you think the latest saxon novel 'death of kings' will be released in Australia? All the best from the avid fan known as Drew