Your Questions

Q

Dear Bernard, I eagerly await Azincourt as I'm a big fan of your work.To put my mind at rest could you tell me if Nick Hook is a relation of Thomas of Hookton. ie.great grandson.As you will know many people derived there surnames from the place of there birth.Is this the case or just wishful thinking on my part.Ten years ago at the age of 35 i read my first ever novel.It was Sharpe's prey. It was as if i was really there and I've been a big fan ever since. Many thanks Nick Horton.

Submitted August 26, 2008

A

He isn't. I took the name from the muster roll of the archers who really were at Agincourt and it just happened to be the name I liked best and, by coincidence, shared the Hook with Hookton

Q

Dear Mr. Cornwell, Firstly I wanted to say how much I have thoroughly enjoyed every book of yours which I have read, with the Warlord trilogy my latest read but almost definitely my favourite! How about a film of this series? I know it's been asked before but I am seconding the idea! It would definitely make a good series of films, although I'm sure it would cost quite a bit. Anyway, thanks a lot for getting me into reading! (I was only 14 when I started your books). James

Submitted August 26, 2008

A

Thanks James! Who knows? Maybe someday it will happen.

Q

Mr. Cornwell my question is when Richard Sharpe arrived back in England from India on November 1805 how did he sell the Tippo's jewels and whom did he sell them too? I also wonder why he didn't purchase a captains commission since he was going to stay in the army? I am enjoying the all Sharpe's books.
Tony Contreras

Submitted August 26, 2008

A

Did you read Sharpe's Prey? I believe you'll find your answers there.

Q

I have been following the adventures of Uhtred and his companions since the books arrived on the book shelves. I was just wondering if the sequel to Sword Song will be written soon. Hoping to hear from you soon, Jim

Dear Mr Cornwall, Your books are very interesting and creative, I have read many of your books, but my interests are in the saxon series, and I will like to know if you are making a new one after 'Sword Song', and if you are, then please tell me when. Thank You. One of your many fans, Gunalan

Mr Cornwell I just want it to say I really like your books and I would like to ask when the new book after Sword Song will be published if you have finished it. thank you for your time. George Emmanouel

Submitted August 26, 2008

A

I haven't started the next book of the Saxon stories, but it is most likely the next book I will write. If so, we'd hope to see it published in the UK in October 2009 (and possibly in the US in January 2010 ).

Q

Dear Bernard, I just read all 4 of your Starbuck Chronicles, one right after the other. I couldn't put them down, they were that interesting. I thought "The Bloody Ground" would tie them all up to an ending, but I see now that they were never finished...I hate to think that I spent 70 dollars on a story with no ending. But more importantly, I will always be wondering about what happened to Sally Truslow, her father, Julia Gordon,Nate,Bird, Tumlin (Blythe),Delaney, etc. I'm very disappointed that you found another vehicle more profitable in the Sharpe books. I wish you would write one more Starbuck book and just finish it...please?
John Russell

Submitted August 26, 2008

A

I do hope to return to Starbuck before too long...

Q

Greetings, Mr. Cornwell! I'm Brazilian, and I just finished reading the "Warlord Chronicles" trilogy, and I just got fascinated! You're really brilliant!! I loved the way you told that story, and because of your books, I got really interested in the Great Britain's history, and I'm looking for books and studying. Congratulations for your brilliant work, and I just wanted to say that you have in me, if not a friend, a great fan! P.S.: can you recommend any book related to Great Britain's History?? If not, that's ok!! greetings from Brazil!
André Felipi Barboza Pacheco

Submitted August 21, 2008

A

Wow! There are SO many! And not that many which tell the whole story in one book . . . . but I'd recommend The Story of Britain, From the Romans to the Present by Rebecca Fraser . . . she writes wonderfully, tells a good story, and the book is easily available from Amazon! Happy reading!

Q

Hello Mr. Cornwell, First I want to thank you for your wonderful tales, especially those of Mr. Sharpe. After re-reading Sharpe's Gold, not to be pestering, but have you ever thought of putting to pen or even simply given thought to the tale of Theresa, specifically her rise to leading a force of Spanish guerrillas? There were women going for soldier in that period of wars (several in the Freikorps of Prussia), but all as men themselves. A woman leading fighting men in that age openly as a woman was at the very least equal to the successes Sharpe had in rising from the ranks. Thank your for your stories and may they continue without end. Kevin from Kentucky.

Submitted August 21, 2008

A

Well, it's a thought! I've let it flicker in my head from time to time, but in truth it doesn't really ignite my enthusiasm, so I'm guessing it won't happen . . . but of course you're right, it is a remarkable achievement and should be told

Q

Hi In Sharpe's Company when Sharpe and Harper storm the breach at Badajoz Sharpe regained his captaincy and a Laurel badge for his uniform jacket. I thought that the sergeants who stormed a breach often received battlefield commissions and wondered why Sergeant Harper did not?
David Ackerley

Submitted August 21, 2008

A

Because they weren't in the Forlorn Hope! I also suspect Harper would have been disqualified because he can't read (actually, I suspect he can, but pretends not . . . and anyway, he really doesn't want to be an officer!)

Q

Dear Mr. Cornwell, I've greatly enjoyed your Richard Sharpe (and other!) series and the vivid depiction of life in the early 1800s. I recall that Sharpe's Sergeant carried a vial of fly larvae for treating wounds. I'm doing a presentation on larval therapy for débriding wounds, and I wonder if you have any historical sources for the use of maggots in treating wounds? Like moss and spiderwebs, it's been a part of folk medicine for a long time, and there are reports of Confederate surgeons using maggots to treat wounds in the American Civil War. The first scientific studies were done in 1928, and maggot therapy found wide usage from then until the advent of antibiotics. It's recently experienced a resurgence, particularly in Great Britain. Thank you so much for your books, and I hope you go on writing for a long time. Sincerely yours, Peter J. Liepmann MD FAAFP

Submitted August 21, 2008

A

I first came across it in The Autobiography of a Supertramp by the Welsh poet W.H. Davies . . . . and you'll certainly find his recollections of using maggots to treat wounds if you can discover a copy . . . . and not so long ago, five years perhaps, I saw a reference in a newspaper - how maggots were being used to clean wounds.

Q

Mr. Cornwell, I am French and hear your books are very good, I would like to know if you believe the French version is authentic to English. thank you. Lucy Loiselle

Submitted August 21, 2008

A

I wish I knew! I don't speak (or read) French well enough to know. Perhaps all the endings are changed? That would be a fine French joke! Merci!