Your Questions

Q

My Dear Mr. Cornwell, I want to thank you for all the hours of reading you have provided me. Have you ever thought of doing a book about the battle of Colloden, or a series of Scottish Clan books? Only yourself could do that subject justice. Thank you sir. E. R. Strachan

A

Thank you for the suggestion. I'm not sure it will happen though, as I believe it is probably better to let Scottish people write stories about Scottish history.


Q

Hi again, Mr. Cornwell. If I'm not mistaken, somewhere in the Starbuck Chronicles, you mention that Colonel Lassan was at the battle of Solferino in 1859, and that it was there that he lost his eye. This is interesting because the battle was bigger than any that Sharpe fought in (160,000 on each side), because of the particularly fierce nature of the fighting, and because of the high casualty list. Perhaps, in a future Starbuck novel, you can devote a few pages to Lassan telling Starbuck the story of his part in the battle? It would be easier than writing a whole novel on Lassan. Alan Kempner

A

I'd forgotten that . . . but it does sound like a good idea! Thank you!


Q

Dear Bernard, It is some time back that i finished your last Saxon story as I have read each one as soon as it was published. The next Uhtred scheduled for October is already in my Amazon shopping basket! I actually plan to read them all from the start again as they are wonderful stories and I am fascinated by that historical period. There was an element in The Last Kingdom that I have sort of missed from the later novels and that was how you captured the Viking culture and beliefs; the reading of omens in the flights of birds, the sacrifices to the gods, etc. It brought a magical element to the book that is common throughout the your Arthur books. Is there any way that you could insert a little more of that into your future Saxon books? I don't want to seem pushy but you really make another age and time come alive with all those pre-Christian beliefs and superstitions.

On another quick note, I recall reading that you had planned to write seven or eight Saxon novels in total, is that still the plan or will there be more than that? Keep up the great work, you bring joy to your readers! Erik

A

Your request is duly noted . . . . it might be too late to add too much to the new book, but it will have to be rewritten and I promise to bear your comments in mind! Thank you.

I wish I knew! I honestly don't - but it might be ten? Or 8. Dunno!


Q

Me and the lads were having a little discussion about Nicholas Hook. At one point you mention that the archers were whistling a popular Robin Hood tune. I can't really find any surviving tunes that are that old, though many probably have older roots. So were you assuming that the many ballads would have had recognizable tunes, or is there a specific tune that you had uncovered? It'll probably appear trivial to you, but one of the lads wants to whistle it, he just cut himself a warbow modelled on Hook's, and is about the same size and stature, so it seems apt enough to us. Nils Visser

A

I'm afraid that was a totally fictional invention . . . the Robin Hood tales appear to go back way beyond the 14th and 15th centuries, but that's when they became popular . . . and I was merely assuming there was, or might have been, such a ballad.


Q

I am a bowhunter (deer and wild boar) and wondered what was the draw weight of the long bow used at Agincourt?

Jennifer Boynton

A

It was enormous - so big that the archers' bodies discovered in various graves display grotesquely enlarged bone structures to anchor the muscles needed to draw a bow with a weight of 115 lbs plus - and I do mean plus - there's even talk of some bows going as high as 150 lbs, but I suspect the average was around 120


Q

Dear Mr Cornwell Do you have a title in mind as yet for the sixth Saxon novel and, if so, will you share it with us? Thanks once again for a wonderful series of novels. Fred Marsh

A

It's probably going to be called The Thorn Crown. I really wanted to call it Crown of Thorns, but settled for a less 'religious' title.


Q

Hi,I enjoyed reading or listening more than once most of your books. I would like to ask you about the french colonel character at Starbuck series, who if i got it right is Sharpe's son. Is it in your plans to join the two series with some books for instance for the Crimean war? Or the Sharpe series is over for good? Many thanks for your excellent books

George

A

There will be more Sharpe; but the Crimean War just doesn't hold much appeal for me, sorry!


Q

My name is George. I am fifteen and live in Melbourne, Australia. It was 2006, and my family was at Melbourne airport, about to board a flight to Fiji, for our annual vacation. At that time, I was constantly plagued by severe boredom on long flights, and I think the aforementioned flight is three hours long. I have been a keen reader as long as I can remember, and decided to quickly grab a book from the airport bookstore, so as to occupy myself during the long flight. I picked up a terrorist-thriller by someone or other, solely due to the presence of an explosion and S.W..A.T. trooper on the front cover. I was on my way to the cash register when, for no apparent reason, another book caught my eye, entitled 'Sharpe's Fury'. I picked up the book and read the blurb. I have always been interested in warfare (as every boy is) but had never even heard of Napoleon's peninsula campaign (none of his campaigns for that matter, just the man himself), the words 'war' and 'siege' stood out from the blurb. At that moment my mother called for me to hurry, and I made a snap decision to buy Sharpe's Fury instead of the thriller. And thank God I did. Words cannot describe how much that decision affected my life. That book opened the door to another world - many worlds actually, but I'll come to that later - a world of redcoats, sergeants, officers, Napoleon, muskets, Wellington, Waterloo - the list goes on. The second I read the opening chapter - a passage about a cloak and dagger murder in a majestic Spanish city, (not to mention the first time I had ever seen the word 'whore' in a book, and saw that it was spelled with a 'w') I knew I wanted more. Within a year I had read all twenty-one Sharpe books, and again, I struggle to describe how much knowledge and emotion I reaped from them. They were also the first 'adult' books I had ever read, and in a family of four ever-competing young children, reading an adult book means a lot. One day, my father picked up Sharpe's Gold from here I'd left it on the couch, and within half an hour, had become as obsessed as I was. From then on, I had to fight just to get hold of my own books. My dad also finished all twenty-one, and has always said what a great tragedy it is that his father (whom served in the British army during World War II, and eerily, joined as a private and finished as a major - just like Richard Sharpe) passed away before he was able to read them. After Sharpe's, I read Starbuck's, (which I also loved, and was disappointed that the series was discontinued), then Grail Quest, which I read, coincidentally, when my family and I were journeying around France. >From there I read the Arthurian trilogy, the books of which have to be the most startling I have ever read, and the first of which is one of my favourite books of all time (second only to Sharpe's Fury). Although the second and third were staggering, they were SO depressing, as we were forced to watch every single character and kingdom we loved so much from the first book be killed off one by one. Since then I've read Gallows Thief, Azincourt (another favorite), and just recently the Burning Land, when I came across it in a bookstore. I was puzzled while reading the Burning Land by constant references to past battles and adventures, and remarked to my father 'It's almost as if there's a missing prequel.' When I found out there were five, and that there was an entire Bernard Cornwell series I didn't know about, I almost had a heart attack, and immediately placed an order for all of them - and, while I was at it, Stonehenge. I have to say, Sharpe's is the best book series I've ever read, and if I ever become a Hollywood producer, I intend to make at least ten Sharpe's movies. (I'm aware there's already a few, but I was concerned by the varying amount of faith to the novels, and also I felt that the lack of CGI meant the battles and events were lacking in the explosiveness we experienced in the books). I'm also desperate for another book, and I think somewhere there might've been a battle of Rolica mentioned, at which both Sharpe and Wellington were present, but I'm pretty sure never appeared in the books... I also had three questions (feel free to ignore them if you don't want to answer): Firstly, if you don't mine me asking, are you a Christian, Atheist, pagan or what? As I read all of your books, I found myself becoming increasingly puzzled as Christian characters and themes were introduced and recognized, only to be countered by pagan heroes and Christian villains, as well as evidence such as the similarities of Jesus to Mithras explained by Merlin. (Just so we're even, I'm agnostic).

Second, do you really, really, really despise the Spanish? There just seemed to be an awful lot of evil Spaniards throughout Sharpe's, as well as poor fighting displays by their troops (most notably in Devil and Fury). But I guess that might just be history.

Thirdly, what's the deal with all the Irish lieutenants? (Lieutenants as in second-in-command, not military rank) Don't get me wrong, I loved Patrick Harper, and Issa was fantastic in the Warlord Chronicles, but when I recently picked up the Burning Land and met Finan, I was slightly abashed. I mean, three different wars, peoples, and time periods? Really? Anyway, I hope you get this, and I hope none of my questions were answered in your historical notes (I confess I never read all of them because I was so eager to get to the next book in whatever series I was reading), and I hope you realise how much your books have meant to me. (You'll be happy to know that, in addition to my father, my little sister has read the Warlord Chronicles and is now heavily immersed in Sharpe's). Many thanks, George Colman.

A

Thank you for a wonderful message George. Let's see if I can answer all your questions:

I have no faith practice...Growing up in an anachronistic fundamentalist sect is a terrifically useful background for an historical novelist. It also, more happily, gave me an acquaintance with the bible, for which I'm grateful, but faith? I have none.

No I don't despise the Spanish, far from it, but the Sharpe books are written (obviously) from a British point of view and reflect the prejudices of that army, but it has to be said that they had grounds - the early behaviour of the Spanish was very unimpressive, mainly due to a lack of leadership. The Spanish government was, to say the least, prickly, but by 1814 most of the problems had been resolved.

They get everywhere, don't they? I lived in Ireland for a time and love the place, and I guess it's reflected in the books.

Thanks again for taking the time to write!


Q

I am just rereading the Starbuck Chronicles after visiting Manassas, and Appamadox Courthouse last year. You say at the end of the Historical notes of 'The Bloody Ground' that 'Starbuck will march again'. Can you tell me when. Many thanks Tony Hewison Newcastle upon Tyne England.

i love your books i have read nearly all your books twice or more and would like to thank you for the joy they have given me. Please can you continue the starbuck series just read the 4 for the 5th time and not knowing what happens is killing me. Wishing you well Stephen Dawson

Dear MR. Cornwell I'm a young writer who has been inspired me to write my own book. I know you have been asked this many times but when will the next starbuck book be published?

Michael Molman

A

I hope to return to Starbuck, but I can't say when it might happen because I just don't know!


Q

Hello Bernard, I have read nearly all of your books and loved everyone of them. I was wondering if you ever intent to write any more of your nautical thrillers? Thanks Adam

A

Maybe....but not any time soon.