Just a word from a real Sharp, love your work!!!!when will we know what happened to Starbuck and Sharpe's son?
Hank Sharp
Not sure when, but I do hope to get back to Starbuck.
Arthur Wellesley must know who Sharpe's father is otherwise he would never have made him officer or gazzete him Captain and then let him become Major or serve as a LT colonel with him in Waterloo. He is Quoted as saying that it is wrong to allow soldiers to join the officers mess from the ranks. He looked down on poor people as inferior. He must have been aware of his background and his father's lineage to promote him. Am I right sir?
Kyle Prince
I don't think a knowledge of a man's father was important! You're right that Wellington disliked promoting men from the ranks ('they always take to drink'), but he did it all the same, and the qualifications had nothing to do with birth, but only with competence and literacy. By Waterloo there was a substantial proportion of officers promoted from the ranks and, believe me, that could never have happened if legitimate birth was a necessary qualification!
Dear Sir, I am so impressed to see your site. Stuart told me you are authoritative on Medieval history. All I want to do is be a friend and get an answer. Your Uhtred of Northumbria. Could this possibly be of the Uchiltrie-Ochiltree ancestry of the Saxon stories ? My ancestral lines are the Ochiltrees of Of Ochiltree and Ayrshire. I cannot get a detailed history nor can I bridge the Atlantic Crossing after the Culloden. I have read Prebble, the Peerage, random peerages of old history. I cannot seem to tie it in. All I have been to make sense of is the Alexander Alan Oochiltree of Renfrewshire...his three sons came to America but there is absolutely no records of passage. Sorry to be so windy...I love history. Thank you..and Sincerely. LuRose Williams San Marcos TX
Uhtred of Northumbria is part of a real family, that still exists, and is pure Angle rather than Scots. Their ancestor was Ida the Flamebearer who, in the 6th Century, captured Bebbanburg (now Bamburgh) and the family, called Uhtred, held that fortress till 1016. The family now spells the name Oughtred and their genealogy doesn't have any mention of the Ochiltree connection, so I suspect they're not related.
Just finished reading The Fort. WOW! One question, is there any information on James Fletcher after the war? Thank you.
James O'Conner
Not really - he was fictional, and I guess his future is up to me... he lived happily ever after?
A Happy New Year to you Mr. Cornwell, I am studying English Literature and History at Göttingen University (Lower Saxony, Germany) and lately do work on Old and Middle English Texts. Well I have not decided to study my subjects because of your novels, but they have definitely helped me through some really boring Chaucer or Beda moments. Currently I am deciding on a theme for a termpaper. Lately I already did an essay on "The Alliterative Morte Arthur" and got aware of some similarities between the world of that and your Arthur. Both are "a little" more realistic in my eyes, though yours is noble and his corrupt but that's not the point. Before I start working on this termpaper, I would like to ask you if you got inspired by this novel in one or the other way. To end I would like to express my respect for your way of writing and my hope that you will find time to write a lot of more books in the next years. In any case thank you very much! Heiko Teigelkötter
I'm not sure how influenced I was by the Alliterative Morte d'Arthur (what a clumsy title!). That poet, if I remember rightly, has Arthur as a Christian, which I certainly rejected (on the basis of the Welsh Saints' lives), but you're right that he sets the tale in a much more realistic world than other medieval accounts, and I certainly tried to do the same, so in that respect the two tellings are alike.
Hi once again, Mr. Cornwell. You have said you would someday like to write on the Tudors, particularly Elizabeth I. Should we look forward to another extended series like Uhtred? Or is it more likely to be a trilogy or a one-shot book? Also, is your interest in following Drake as he raids the Spaniards, culminating in the defeat of the Armada? Or perhaps the border wars with Scotland, such as the battle of Flodden? Or do you want to slog through Irish bogs with Essex in pursuit of the Earl of Tyrone? Alan Kempner
None of the above! I do have an idea I want to pursue (and forgive me if I don't say what it is), but whether I shall ever finish the research or find time to write the books - I don't know. I hope so!
I've read all the Uhtred-books, and was reading an article about the norwegian king Håkon den Gode Adalsteinsfostre (Hákon góði, Hákon Aðalsteinsfóstri) and was suddenly thinking about the Uhtred-books. As far as I remember there was a relative of Uhtred called Aethelstan? And was there any mention about (the king to be) Håkon in the books? Æðelst’n,modern english: Athelstan) 893-939 ? I'm a big fan, although the last book didn't meet my expectations, sorry to say...
Hakon
Well Aethelstan has literally just been born in the book I'm writing now, so it's a little early to know what will happen in the books to come or whether they will feature Hakon. But Aethelstan, of course, will be hugely important as the man who unites and (really) creates England.
Love all your books and I think have read them all even owning copies of the boat books Stormchild etc. In fact have loaned out the Grail Quest series half a dozen times to guys I work with. Have you ever visited the Fort Anne National Historic site? Its in Annapolis Royal Nova Scotia. Really well preserved old earthworks star fort there. My wife and I visited a couple years back, the local historical society does a bang up job with a night graveyard tour as well. Worth a quick browse on the internet if nothing else. Keep up the good work and I eagerly anticipate the next Saxon book. Please don't publish it in the UK first though, as in the past you've cost me some shipping fees ordering books from overseas since I couldn't bring myself to wait for the US publication!
Jon Roda
I have not, and I should! I have visited the fort in Halifax, but next time I must make sure I get to Annapolis as well.
Dear Bernard You have said you only write about what appeals to you I wonder if this link could ever tempt you towards the war of 1812. In Sharpe's Waterloo Sharpe and Harper are talking about Fredrickson and how he is in Canada. I wondered if you had ever thought of being tempted about writing about Fredrickson's service in the war of 1812. here is the link on a good site on all the battles of the war http://www.warof1812.ca/battles.htm. Yours sincerely Geraint Thatcher
I have researched bits and pieces of the War of 1812, but right now it's not high on my list of priorities, but thanks for the link!
Two short questions: Are you hosting any battlefield tours to Spain in 2012? If yes can you please provide details. The shapes war tv series (four parts):- is it availiable on DVD yet? If yes can you please provide details. Thank you. Dominic Hoole
No plans to host a battlefield tour in Spain as far as I know...
'Sharpe's War' has never become available on DVD to my knowledge.