Your Questions

Two questions: 1) Do you feel trapped by your genre, or by the characters you've developed for serial novels? 2) Where might one purchase trade paperbacks of The Last Kingdom with the original cover? I've had no luck with amazon/ebay. My copy was lent out and never made it back. Ever appreciative, James

In the historical note section of Lords of the North, you seem to indicate Uhtred is one of your ancestors, is this true?. John Owen

I am a great fan of your books. You may have to clone yourself. Now... personal questions so dodge if you like. Do you own the film rights for the Grail Quest Series? It occurs to me that if done well it would make as great a film trilogy as it is a great book trilogy. I don't know if you have seen Peter Jackson's LORD OF THE RINGS film trilogy. I am a self employed engineer (Mechanical Contractor) with nothing to gain here but just think it is a great idea. Steve Holroyd

Dear Bernard I know you have said you are reluctant to go back again in regards to the Sharpe novels but I wondered if you have ever considered the Battle of Madia in 1806. Its fairly unique as it seemed to be one of the few times the French fought in line against the British (albeit 3 deep instead our 2 deep line) and you could certainly have time enough to get Sharpe there from Trafalgar and back to Britain and Denmark???? And could endorse the plea of an earlier poster on giving Fredrickson his head on a spin-off novel out of all the charachters he seems the most qualified for one and in Sharpe's Siege he does tell Sharpe about San Sebastian and how lucky Sharpe was to miss it. Besides that there is also his time in Canada and the war of 1812 (Memory hazy but in Sharpe's Waterloo didn't Harper remark that Fredickson was in Canada) to write about which means you dont need to worry about Sharpe and his promise when Fredrickson didn't make it and he could get to Washington and Baltimore. Regards Tony

P.S A previous poster asked about famous Irish soldiers in the Napoleonic British Army besides Wellington well from the American perspective the most obvious would have to be Robert Ross who led the attack at Washington and Baltimore.

Dear Mr. Cornwell, I enjoy your writing very much, but in "Redcoat" p. 83 you write, "...but Caroline, whom Woolard was certain knew the truth, was contemptuous and defiant." It should have been "who," of course, as a subject.There's the same problem in "Sharpe's Honor," p. 62:"The Marques stared at Sharpe, seeing the man whom he believed had insulted his wife..." Here again it's as if you're saying, "Him insulted his wife." It's as if you have trouble differentiating between nominative and accusative, subject and object. In the same book, "Sharpe's Honor," p. 73, you seem to have trouble with a simple object of the preposition: "From you and I , my Lord." Clearly it should be "From you and me, my Lord." As I enjoy your writing very much , and as a pedant, I hope you will take this criticism as constructive and friendly. Sincerely, Newton Bowdan

My great compliments on the books you write, I am a great fan of Uhtred of Bebbanburg, and to say he became a hero to me is a title that is still too low for the great Uhtred. I started a survey about norse/anglo-saxon usage of helmets, most of the authors speak that the usage of the Common Spangenhelm were used(the conical one with nose guard), hearing a lot that Helms like The sutton hoo, or gjermundbu(the only actual viking age helmet found in scandinavia) weren't usable in a battle, due to the adorns on them. I would like to kindly ask, the sources so I can get further reading about the usage of the helmets,(or even sources that can really shed a light on me on this matter) unfortunately where I live, Brazil, people doesn't seem to be really interested in norse/saxons, and books come here with less frequency, making me order from US, or UK. I have been waiting for the new book of the saxon stories, almost impatiently(hehe, sorry I am a compulsive reader) here some cheers from a Brazilian fan! thanks for the time, have a nice week.
Phill

Dear Sir, can you please tell me will there be a follow up book to AZINCOURT as I have just started reading and I find your books MAGIC.
Dennis Gillam

I just finished reading Agincourt. Please tell me another Nicholas Hook/Melisande book will follow and soon.
Pat

Mr. Cornwall, I'm 16, a keen reader and learner and a devout fan of your works, especially the Saxon Stories. I was wondering when the next of your books, The Burning Land, will be available in Australia?

Jim

Hello Bernard, I have been reading your books since I picked up Sharpe's Rifles off the shelf in WHSmith's in the early 90's and am currently reading Azincourt. Great stuff. I have heard rumours that there may be no more Sharpe stories on tv which would be a great shame. Have you heard anything to the contrary? Best wishes. Simon, Manchester UK.

Hi again Mr. Cornwell. Permit me a somewhat personal question. Your heroes are all basically fighting men, skilled in the use of weapons. Where do you stand on the ordinary citizen's right to keep and bear arms? Your perspective is of interest, since you come from a country where there is no such right (Britain) and now live in one (USA) where it is written into the Constitution. I know this question is getting into politics, so if you'd rather not divulge your viewpoint, that's okay, I understand. Alan Kempner