Hello Mr Cornwell. A colleague has just returned from the U.S. with a copy of Agincourt for me. What was the inspiration, what sent you to writing this book? I shall try to read this novel slowly. I congratulate on the poem at the end of the book. Beautiful, poignant and a wonderful end to the book. Also taking the names of the archers from the muster rolls. Those men live on and who knows maybe a movie will come of this book and the names of the long dead will be heard again. Thanks for the writing. Nicholas Langrick.
I think the inspiration came from the presence of Agincourt at the heart of English myth - obviously hallowed by Shakespeare. It's one of the few events in English history that persists in common memory and it fascinated me (always has). Very often such events get distorted and I think it's intriguing to try and return to the original circumstances and describe what lies behind the distortion - but really that wasn't necessary with Agincourt. The commonly accepted ideas about the battle are more or less right - though I think the arrows did less damage than most people believe. And thank you for your comments!