Your Questions

Hello Mr Cornwell, just a few points. Firstly there are hopelessly few books of yours that I haven't read yet and I managed to find the first two Starbuck books in the "cheap" section of the local department store. It felt like sacrilege to buy them there but I couldn't help myself. Read the first so far and loved it but wondered if it was a tough choice to have the main character in southern colours given the outcome of the war and knowing that the cause is always going to have a negative end?

And I'm having a writing argument and who better to ask but, the point is; that if there is a smell of, or like "shit" in the air, ie from a sewer or the slicing of guts in battle, then it is fair to actually use the word for realism? Thanks for your time.

Adrian

Dear Mr Cornwell, I have read your Sharpe series more times than I can remember, as well as starting on your other, and I was wondering, what with all the dipping in and out of order with the Sharpe series, if you had started with Sharpe's Tiger, and worked through in sequence, would the series have turned out much different, and how so? Very hypothetical question I know, but one which I'm greatly interested in! Thank you Chris G

Hello Bernard, I have read a few of your books in the past and enjoyed them very much. I am an Australian Kindle owner. Bought my first one in March and now have the latest Kindle 3. What i am striking a lot is that when trying to buy a book via Amazon like yours it comes up "This Title is Not Available to customers from Australia". It is a pain because generally the ebook is not available in Australia and, if it was, it would not be Kindle compatible. Is there any hope that your Kindle books will become an "International" versions? Kind regards, John Mitchell

In your last book of the Sharpe series, Sharpe's Devil, a young British Lieutenant asks Sharpe if he remembers his father, Captain Roland Hardacre. Captain Hardacre was with Sharpe at the same time in Salamanca and later died at San Sebastian. It was not clear if Sharpe was at San Sebastian or somewhere else at the time. My wife and I are just back from Pamplona where we ran with the bulls then spent a week in San Sebastian. It is the jewel of the Bahia di La Concha and Parte Vieja was a great spot to stay. It is hard to believe the city was razed and only a few houses, two they say, were left standing in 1813. Apparently Sharpe was busy at the Vitoria Campaign and the Invasion of France in 1813.....?
Henry Restarick

Hi Bernard, Two slightly personal questions which I'll understand if you do not wish to answer. 1. Does the isolation of being a writer bother you? How do you combat it?

2. By the same token, how do you prevent the outside world distracting you...i.e. the car that needs to be serviced, the dental appointment etc etc etc

3. Which leads to my final question. Of all your many talents are dedication and discipline the most important? Regards, Willie

Hi, As an avid reader of many of your books I found myself taking up archery as a sport, I do blame you for this in a good way. Anyway, we keep revisiting the same debate down at the club and I've not managed to make much headway at the library. I see many recent references to archers having their fingers cut off if caught by the French but no historical references. What I believed to be the origin of the two fingered salute, may not be so. So do you know of any record of this practice dating back over 100 years? or have any recommendation to where i could go looking for such a thing. Regards, Ashley

Mr. Cornwell, I just wanted to say I've thoroughly enjoyed your books, especially Agincourt, the Grail Quest series and the Saxon Stories. I'm currently "re-reading" Sword Song through an audio book and it brings back great memories and mental images of the first time I read it. I can't wait to get into The Burning Land. I've enjoyed the Grail Quest series since I also have a strong interest in traditional archery (I currently shoot a 55 lb recurve). I wondered if you think the Viking Ship Museum in Oslo is worth a trip if I ever get a chance to visit there? Also, is there anyplace in England that has an exhibit on traditional English yew bows? I've never seen one. Thanks again for writing such great books, Jim P.S. I noticed that your book liners list your residence as Cape Cod, where my family spends a week every summer (we live in Western New York). Seems like a great place to write.

I have read most of your work with enormous pleasure and thank you for a wonderful historical journey; but I have a question concerning the Saxon Stories. I do not think that Uhtred has visited Repton where the Great Army overwintered in 873/4 Is it not likely that he would have been visited? I was lucky enough to be of some assistance when Professor Martin Biddle conducted a major dig about 30 years ago and, as I am sure you are aware, an ossuary was discovered containing about 200 skeletons. I feel that Uhtred must have had a hand in it, somewhere. With Thanks and Kind Regards, Ben Bennett.

Dear MR Cornwell, My name is Ian Parkhouse and I'm from North Devon. I want to start by saying that I am a massive fan of your Saxon stories, they have introduced me into a part of our history that I think is fascinating. I'm currently working in Wellington, Somerset and finally went to see the Isle of Athelney a few weeks ago, and I have to admit I had a lump in my throat. You can still see the iron aged ditch, the graves and where the abbey once stood. I could not believe how important that hump in a field was to the making of England. The question I want to ask you is about your next Uhtred book. I feel that Devon and its people's influence during the Viking raids have been slightly overlooked. In the Pale Horseman you placed the battle of Cynuit at Cannington Hill, Somerset instead of the many other possible sights in Devon such as Pilton, Appledore or Cantisbury Hill. A local author Nick Arnold place's the battle at Castle Hill near Beaford, Devon. I have attached the website: http://www.thisisnorthdevon.co.uk/news/Viking-battle-site-near-Beaford/article-333838-detail/article.html. As stated in the historical note in the Pale Horseman it was the men of Devon that won the victory, which Nick states as ranking in importance with the Battle of Britain. From what I've read about where the next book may be based it will be Devon, inparticularly North Devon.. Is there any truth in that? I'd like to think my ancestors witnessed Haestens attack on Devon as my family have been in Devon a very very long time. Thanks for your time, Ian

Bernard, like so many others, my interest in the American Civil War has been sparked by the Starbuck Chronicles. Have you ever considered writing a novel based on a pre-whiteman, North American Indian character?

Billy Cairns