Your Questions

Q

Hi Mr Cornwell my Dad is a HUGE fan of the Sharpe books, He doesn't read an awful lot but he has read all of the Sharpe series. I was wondering if there would be any new Sharpe adventures in the near future? Thanks Jo Deighton.

Submitted February 27, 2009

A

Please tell Dad there will be more Sharpe books - but not for a least another two years.

Q

Hi, My dad has recently passed Azincourt to me, as I recommendation that I might enjoy it. And Enjoying it I am. Not really being one for tales, I normally prefer biographies, but this has me gripped! Just wondered how long it takes to write a book like this, which is steeped in historical facts?

Mark

Submitted February 27, 2009

A

Usually takes me about six months to write a book.

Q

Hi Mr. Cornwell. I noticed there is a gap of over a year (July 1809 - August 1810) between Sharpe's Eagle and Sharpe's Gold. Any chance of a novel to fill this gap? Perhaps the action of the River Coa on July 24 1810? How about "Sharpe's Bridge" as a title? Alan Kempner

Submitted February 27, 2009

A

I really don't want to turn Sharpe's clock back again - I got into a horrible mess with the new books because they weren't written in order. Maybe a short story one day? Maybe . . .

Q

First of all, let me start off by saying that I love your books. I pay the extra shipping costs to get the books from the UK instead of waiting for January. My question is about the Arthur series. Why did you decide to make Lancelot a bad guy/person/warrior/ruler? In all the other stories I have heard he appears to be the brave,noble hero. I think these choices like this make your books great. Thanks. I look forward to the fifth book in the Saxon series! James Mitchell

Submitted February 27, 2009

A

Lancelot was a very late addition to the stories . . . and I never much liked him, so decided to make him a villain. The stories are endlessly changeable (and have changed hugely over the years), but making him a despicable coward was entirely a whim on my part!

Q

Dear Bernard, It has occurred to me that when considering the success of the T.V productions based on the Sharpe stories that the excellent but unfortunately as yet unfinished Starbuck Chronicles would make a superb mini series. I was therefore wondering if this idea has been put to you before as I'm sure it would be highly successful, particularly in the U.S. where I would have thought that studios would be falling over each other to produce such a thing as well as have the finances available to do it justice. Yours faithfully Graeme Collins

Submitted February 27, 2009

A

Thanks! But no plans for it at the moment.

Q

When will the DVD Sharpe's Peril be available in The U.S. in R1 format?
Greg Wolfe

Sir; I'm hoping that you might have your ear to the ground regarding a U.S. showing of Sharpe's Peril. I keep an eye on BBC America, thinking that it would show up soon. Likely I am just impatient, hm? Had you heard of anything in this regard? --Thanks, Terry

Submitted February 27, 2009

A

Sorry for the long delay in this response - but we still haven't been able to find out the answer to this question. We'll let you know as soon as we hear when 'Sharpe's Peril' might be available for viewing and/or purchase in the US.

Q

Sir, Hello. I am a huge fan. I have thoroughly enjoyed all the books I have read from your arsenal. My favorites have been the Saxon series. Looking forward to the fifth. Wondering, how much preparation goes into writing your historical fictions? Lots of research? I'll keep it short. Thanks for your work. -Nick P.S. Like the website.

Submitted February 27, 2009

A

Research is a lifelong occupation, but obviously, for any specific book, you begin dedicated reading and research a few months before. So, I've spent a lifetime reading about mediaeval warfare, but the detailed research for Azincourt, my latest book, probably began about a year before I started writing.

Q

Your writing is an inspiration Bernard and I've thoroughly enjoyed all your books! I know you' probably have a lot of work in the pipeline but do you have any future plans on visiting Hastings circa 1066? It's an epic story just begging for your magic! Keep up the great work!

Alex Digby

Submitted February 27, 2009

A

Hastings? It's not in the plans . . . but who knows?

Q

Mr Cornwell, I just finished Agincourt and greatly enjoyed it. Its a great story and you really made the battle come to life for me in ways I hadnt thought of before. Before reading your book I was somewhat familiar with the battle and its place in history, but had never thought about some of the details like how many arrows you would need for 5,000 archers, and how quickly that vast number could be exhausted. The question that nags at me now involves the use the squire particularly for the French in this battle. In the book you describe the French squires providing replacement weapons for their assigned knights. How were the squires armored in this time period? I can understand the French knight struggling forward in full plate armor and his visor down making it through (with great difficulty) the British long bow attack, but how did the squires accomplish this? Were they also equipped with plate armor? My assumption is that they wouldnt have been, but perhaps that is the source of my confusion. When I think of the squires without expensive plate armor its hard to imagine any of them making it to the British lines even if they werent the primary archer targets. When I think of them with plate Im still amazed that a 13 to 14 year old boy could cross the field in heavy plate carrying multiple weapons and other gear for their knight while enduring the arrow storm of the battle. Thanks again for a great story, and I look forward to exploring some of your other works. Doug Clinger

Submitted February 27, 2009

A

I am sure the squires had plate armour. A young boy (maybe your 13 year old) would be a page, and wouldn't be exposed to the fighting - a squire was a little older usually. He might wear cast-off armour - or spare armour - any lord would probably own at least one suit of plate. The armour was often made by local blacksmiths (lord knows what quality control there was), but there were specialist armourers whose products were very expensive (Milan had the reputation of making the best armour). I suspect that most men-at-arms were dressed in whatever armour they could scrape together - a breastplate from a discarded suit, greaves from another.

Q

Mr. Cornwell, I am newly introduced to your books having read only six thus far. All have been excellent reads and I look forward to readying others. My question concerns Uhtred's take on Christianity. My question is in two parts: first, is Uhtred the "pulpit" you use to express your own views about Christianity (it seems to me that he, in fact, is), and secondly, do you see modern christianity closer to the mark of what it should be then its version in the Dark Ages such as in Uhtred's time?

Scott Meigs

Submitted February 23, 2009

A

Uhtred is the pulpit for expressing his own views, which are probably much more extreme than mine. I'm really not sure about the second answer; I suspect that Christ, if he were to come back (yeah, I know he's overdue) would be utterly astonished by the religion that bears his name and has, probably, almost no connection with his own ambitions which, as far as I can determine, were to reform Judaism.