Your Questions

Q

Good evening Bernard, I'm an avid reader of your work and I would like to take this opportunity to thank you, for many happy hours engrossed in historical fiction. I would like to ask where you get your inspiration? Have you considered the war of the roses? I hope you find time to answer, but would not wish to detract from your writing of your next novel. Thank you in anticipation Cliff

Submitted March 4, 2009

A

inspiration? Simply a love of history, I think (and the need to earn a living when denied a Green Card by the US government). And I think we all write what we want to read. So what drew me to military-history adventure was a love of the Hornblower novels as a child and a wish to read something like them, but set against a land background instead of the sea! No plans for the War of the Roses.

Q

Dear Mr Cornwell, my name is Joris Plag and I am from Holland and I was wondering is your new book Azincourt going to be translated into dutch? And if it is when can I buy it in Holland. I really want to read it, so if it is going to take a while I`ll read it in English. Thanx for your time. Greetings, Joris Plag

Dear mister Cornwell, I very much like the Sharpe story's. I do have all the DVD's but i would like to reed all the books. I own Sharpe's Triumph and Sharpe's Tiger in Dutch language. I would really like to buy the rest of the series but there isn't a translation in my language. Can you tell me if the translation in Dutch will come soon? Thank you very much for reading! Mariette Hebinck

Submitted March 4, 2009

A

My agent tells me I don't currently have a publisher in Holland (any takers?) - so I am afraid the answer is no. Sorry!

Q

I have read all your Sharpe books and many of your others and enjoyed them immensely. I have often wondered if your inspiration for Sharpe was the historic character John Shipp who was also an orphan who joined the army in about the same time period as Sharpe and was the only soldier to be commissioned from the ranks twice.
Brian Beck

Submitted March 4, 2009

A

Sharpe is not Shipp, no, though I have used Shipp's biography in the research - everything else is coincidence.

Q

hi Bernard - greatly enjoyed all the books you have written and hope you never stop writing ! I was just wondering about the phrase you used in the Alfred series " fate is inexorable " what made you think of this phrase and why did you incorporate this phrase into this particular story ? and do you now how to write this phrase in viking/danish runes ? thanks a lot Michael p.s. looking forward to book number five in the Uhtred/Alfred series.

Submitted March 4, 2009

A

It comes from an Old English poem, The Wanderer, which is very beautiful and rather sad, and seems to pretty much sum up the fatalism of dark-age characters.

Q

Mr. Cornwell, I came upon your Sharpe series from a recommendation on George R.R. Martin's website and felt as if I stumbled on the end of a rainbow. Not only are each of the books worth their weight in gold, but there were sooooo many of them! Well now I am over half way through (just finished Sharpe's Escape) and I am already starting to feel depressed and melancholy as the end seems near. I feel as if I will soon say goodbye to a VERY good friend. Unless of course you plan for Sharpe and Harper to march again?? Joe

Submitted March 4, 2009

A

They will march again. . . .but not for another year or two as I have a few other projects to complete first.

Q

Hi Mr Cornwell, Fantastic books! I have just been reading your Saxon series and notice that in your notes you mention you are related to the Uhtred family from Bebbanburg. I have been looking into my family tree and wondered how on earth you managed to trace your heritage back that far?! Any tips would be most welcome! Thanks and keep up the good work! Murray Robinson

Submitted March 4, 2009

A

What I know was discovered by a member of my birth family (I only met them about five or six years ago). They were fortunate in being a prominent family . . . in Saxon times they were, first, kings of Bernicia (now lowland Scotland) then earls of Northumbria (thus the connection with Bebbanburg), and even after their fall (thanks to Cnut) they remained as county gentry in north Yorkshire . . . and the surname is distinctive enough to make them quite easy to trace through a tangle of records. I never checked the genealogy, but I have no reason to doubt it. Sorry I have no tips for you!

Q

Hi, seems your next Saxon adventure will have 1,500 pages since it takes so long! Can't wait! In the meantime I have bought and read almost all your other books except the Starbuck Chronicles. (They were all brilliant.) By the way, have you ever had personal trouble with the church before or due to the writing of your books. I always enjoy what seems to be a very critical and therefore fair opinion about Christianity. Keep up the terrific work. Best Regards from Dresden, Germany

Submitted March 4, 2009

A

I certainly had trouble with the church when I was growing up . . . though it was a small and insignificant branch of that amorphous organisation. I haven't had any trouble since. Sometimes a Christian will moan at me about the opinions expressed by characters in the books, but just as many seem to forgive me, and the vast majority (I assume) stay silent. In fact the opinions are fairly balanced - at least I think so!

Q

Hello! I guess you hear this a lot, but your books that I have read, the Saxon stories about Uhtred and king Alfred was REALLY good. I have just finished the Pale Horseman and want to continue with The Lords of the North. It is only one problem, I do not know when or if it even come out in Swedish. If anyone knows, I bet you do. If so is not, that the book will not come out in Swedish then I will take the challenge to read it in English ( with or without a lexicon next to me). Anyway, thanks for a great series of books. Keep up the good work!
Marcus Sandqvist

Submitted March 4, 2009

A

The Lords of the North will be published in Swedish translation in autumn of this year. Hope you enjoy it!

Q

Dear Mr Cornwell: I spent much of my life in France without ever going to Spain, even though there were family connections. I assumed the French and the Spanish were very similar till I went to live for 4 years in Spain in the 1990s. I was amazed to hear how much they disliked the French. After reading most of your Sharpe books and reading of the hatred then I wonder if the dislike today stems from that earlier hatred. Does your research tell you this?. Thank you for your writings. Sincerely, Frank Ledwidge

Submitted March 4, 2009

A

I'm not sure how far back the hostility goes, but they were certainly uneasy neighbours. Spain was mostly irrelevant until after the Reconquista, and after that the growing influence of Spain (fuelled by new world silver) made it a rival to France for continental domination. The hatred during the Napoleonic Wars, though, is in a class of its own - that was intense! I suspect that before those wars the Spanish probably harboured greater suspicion of the British, but the French invasion changed all that. I'm really not an expert on the long picture, but I have a feeling that Spain and France were rivals rather than enemies so long as they were both the dominant powers inside the Roman church, but that the French espousal of rationalism at the Revolution turned rivalry into fear and then hatred. After the Napoleonic Wars, of course, Spain turned inwards - and the next French invasion (part of Spain's civil wars) was not greeted with hatred at all, which suggests the mood of the Napoleonic Period was an exception.

Q

Mr. Cornwell, I would just like to say thank you for your books, they acted as a happy distraction during my time serving in the United States Navy away from home. I recently have left the service choosing to focus on my family (4 of my 8 years were spent overseas - great for travel, hard on a wife). Your books have inspired me to consider writing a story on my family's heritage as I am a distant relative to Polish royalty and no one seems to write historical fiction on Poland. Do you have any suggestions on research tools you have used, or good historical references for European warfare and living conditions in the 1300's? I know you keep busy but if you have any suggestions, I would greatly value your opinion. P.S. Don't worry even though I am out the Navy I still love to read your books, I can't wait for the next Saxon Story. A loyal fan, Jeff Olek Rochester NY

Submitted March 4, 2009

A

Truly not . . . if I specialise in anything it's British history. I'm sure Polish society was different in many ways, and the circumstances of Poland would make the nature of warfare distinctly different from an island nation, so I fear I can't help except to assure you that the information you want will certainly be out there! I'd start by combing the bibliographies on Polish history and military history in Wikipedia - I'm certain you'll find useful things very fast. Good luck!