Your Questions

Dear Mr. Cornwell, Thank you for chosing writing as your career. You bring so much knowledge and enjoyment into our lives but what I believe may be even more important - you encourage a whole new generation to read books on history as a follow up. I have always been interested in history and anthropology of culture and even studied the subject for a while. Now I continue reading on my own. I would be very grateful if you could suggest a few books which would help me in better understanding of: 1. pre-Roman Britain 2. Celts and Druids I have some knowledge of Latin as I have studied it for 4 years(long time ago), but would prefer a translation. I can also read in French and Italian. Alas - no Greek or German. Scholarly books and/or essays - do not frighten me. I do enjoy reading them. There are so many books on the market and one cannot have or read them all. The sources you have used for your research seem to be the ones I am looking for and I hope you would not mind sharing them with me. For the past few years I have concentrated on Asia and somewhat neglected Europe. Also, I would be very grateful if you could comment on my question concerning Merlin. There are many "versions" and "variations" on this character in numerous book and movies. The one I found very close to my heart was Merlin from John Boorman excellent movie Excalibur. His sarcasm and wit came back to my mind when reading your Arthur trilogy. Did you even remotely think of Boorman's portryal when creating your Merlin? And did you like this movie? Thank you so much for all your books and especially for the Arthur trilogy. Your devoted fan, Basia Jakubowska, New York

I have managed to get hold of SHARPE'S STORY in hardback. Can you tell me how many of these were printed I have been told around 200. Is this true? Thank you. Robert.

Hello Mr Cornwell. One thing I like about your books is being able to relate the historical aspects and locations to modern places. As I live in Farnham in Surrey, I was well up for the battle of Fearnhamme and wanted to find more as it was an event I was not aware of and is not promoted in the town. I went to the local museum, and they too were not aware of the event. As you put such a store on the battle as a defining point of English history, I was surprised at the lack of local knowledge. The museum did hint that I was not the first to ask the question recently! I wonder if you could let me know your source for information on the battle so I can research a bit more locally. With Thanks, Roger

Hello, I teach English to the Spanish Military. One of my students (a General and a great Peninsular Wars enthusiast )has just discovered 'Sharpe' and is most 'concerned' that you are so hard on the Spanish. I had to admit I've never read the series but wondered if you could, perhaps, give your reasons? best regards, Barbara

SHARPE'S Father, Dear Mr. Cornwell This is fun! I'll give it another try. I should have looked closely at the fact that Sharpe's dad was not a historical person and you never wrote about him, so he is completely fictional and totally hidden in the riddle: TAKE ME OUT AND YOU IN AND A HORSE APPEARS IN THIS HAPPY PERSON (pity though, would have loved him to have gen. Baird as his father) The happy person is JACK (Happy Jack) I could only find one horse withe ME in his name: Burmese, Elisabeth II 's favorite horse. If me is exchanged for you we get the name Buryouse or probable Buruse or maybe even Byjoux. Jack Buryouse, stealer of jewels? Ironical because Sharpe did follow his father in that profession. I'll give it another try if this proves wrong again! JACK Buruse then. Love, Constance

I'm a bit of a Bernard Cornwell addict. I own all the audio books available, mostly unabridged, whether it's the Sharpe series, the Anglo-Saxon series, the Grail Quest, Arthurian..... I listen whilst I am painting 28mm miniatures for wargaming. Each book is a wonderful introduction to its specific period and a marvelous yarn. Has Mr. Cornwell ever considered writing a series based around the Wars of the Roses? I could do with his incisive grasp of history to sort out that complicated, fascinating and convoluted period in history for me! 'Be a rollicking good series! Thank you for giving me hours of pleasure and entertainment, Mr. Cornwell! Kindest regards, Nick Buxey.

Hello, I have been listening to and enjoying Sharpe audio books being legally blind and unable to read print books. I have been a long time lover of history and my son, Kevin has also come to love history though he has really come to admire Napoleon and is fascinated by the Napoleonic wars. We started watching the Sharpe series on TV and though my first love is ancient history, I confess to being caught up in the Napoleonic wars as well. I hope to see more of the Sharpe movies as I hope my local library acquires more audio books in this series. Having said this, there is one thing I noticed in Sharpe's Waterloo that bothered me. My understanding is that during the battle, Wellington had two horses shot out from under him and lost a leg in the battle, but in the book. it was someone next to him that lost the leg. I suppose its a small thing but I wondered why you chose not to take Wellington's leg as took place in history? My understanding is it was taken off but he refused to be taken off the field and continues overseeing the battle. How he managed to not die of blood loss I do not know, but from all accounts he was one tough individual. So not to be critical, I would like to know why you wrote the incident that way? Sorry to take up your time with trivia, but it was something I noticed and it bothered me. Thank You for your time. Tom Gervasi Christchurch New Zealand

Hi Mr. Cornwell, Ive been an avid reader of yours for quite some time, owning pretty much everyone of your books. I recently read somewhere that your book Azincourt might be turned into a movie. Is this true? I personally quite hope so as its an excellent book and could be turned into a great movie. Hopefully it wont be the only book of yours that gets a movie as there many that deserve them. Thanks Colin Savoie

Ah, Bernard, don't you bother about me sending you my stories for you to read...In fact, I've just read on Wikipedia that you once wrote about Scottish soldiers on the coast of Maine during the Independence War...Well, do you know about the 78th Fighting Frasers, from Scotland who took over Louisbourg and then Quebec City under Wolfe's command in 1759 ? I'm telling you this, as I come from Quebec, and in some areas down the St-Lawrence River, lots of people still bear the name Fraser (though they do not speak English anymore). I've read some of your books, and to me, The Arthur stories were the most probable (accurate ?) of the events that took place then and there. This was probably what happened, no matter how legend was built afterwards. So, this is just some kind of giving back the pleasure your stories gave me. I have some information about the Frasers (even a Union Jack that flew on one of their estates) that I would gladly share (no, not the flag), AT NO COST (true. If something gets out of this, you'll be the judge to what it's worth. That's all). See you. René Michaud

Dear Bernard, I am a great fan of your books, even though I am Brazilian I enjoy reading them in English. Have you ever thought of writing about Robin Hood? Wars and England, seems a lot like your style.

Do you plan a visit to Brazil? Best Regards! Tiago