Your Questions

We've been reading the Sharpe books in chronological order, and we were puzzled as to why Richard Sharpe was rich at the end of Sharpe's Trafalgar (having recovered all the jewels that Peculiar Cromwell had taken from him), but was penniless at the beginning of Sharpe's Prey. Could you let us (myself, my husband, and our 11 yr old son) know how this came to be? Thank you. P.S. My 11 yr old son is a great fan of your books. We've read him all the Arthur Books, all the Saxon Stories published to date, and the first 4 Sharpes. He could probably read them himself, but as you can imagine, we do some editing of the rapes, sex scenes, and extremely gory battle scenes. Nancy Gordon

Hi Bernard Firstly may I thank you for your wonderful stories. I loved watching Sharpe on T.V. and have recently read the three books on Thomas of Hookton and the four on Uhtred (just finished Sword Song - fantastic) I can't wait for the next Uhtred book. I am now going to start on The Winter King. I love your writing style, I find myself transported back in history which I love. My daughter got me reading your books as she read many of them prior to going to Magdelen College Oxford where guess what - she is reading history - One of her ambitions is to write historical novels. I really think your books inspired her and for that I thank you very much. Will there be any more books on Thomas? Also have you ever considered writing about the English Civil War, I think there are enormous possibilities there. Again, many thanks. Robert Warburton

G'day Mr. Cornwell, So far I have enjoyed everything that I have read that you have written. I have a lot more reading to do to read it all, but I only look forward to it. I have been listening to some of the books in audio format (both abridged and unabridged) and they make the commute seem to go much quicker. Are there any plans to make the Arthur Books into a movie or tele series? If so can you put Peter Jackson in charge of it?

Do you plan to write about the Cromwellian invasion/occupation of Ireland or the English Civil War? If anyone could do that period justice it would be you, so I hope you do write of that period someday. I do recognize that doing that would take a LOT of research but clearly that is nothing new to you! I hope this suggestion falls outside of the "don't give me plot ideas" realm (Damn the lawyers!) so that it would not impinge upon your creative process. Thanks for giving me something to read beyond electronics manuals and math/physics books! Oh I could use a suggestion about listening to your books in my car. You see after listing to the Arthur Books and Saxon books I find there are many splinters from broken shields, busted swords, spear heads and shafts, and lots of blood stains not to mention the offal which leaves a particularly bad mess... and all this scattered about interior (and occasionally exterior) of my small auto. I have even tried running it through a car wash with the windows and doors open to little avail. I sometimes fear the police will seal off my car as a probable crime scene. I guess it was going a bit far when we mounted a rudder on the rear of the little Toyota Echo and beast head on the hood and put a sail up... Oh well, who needs resale value when you have battle glory? But if you have any cleaning suggestions, I would appreciate them. By the way, Redcoat was quite interesting. It was insightful to hear a story from this period from the "other side" (I am nominally an American of Irish/Scotch descent). John

Dear Bernard,I wanted to say that I appreciate your work,you´re the best in what you do!I have two questions for you,first I wanted to know when will Sword Song be released here in Brazil,and second,when and why the shield wall stopped being "used",because in the saxon stories it stills common,but when we see movies like Brave Heart they don´t use it anymore. Thank you for the attention,Lucas

Mr. Cornwell: If you were "building a better mousetrap" again would you use "enormous charts" or some piece of computer software? I'm embarking on this activity and have horrible handwriting...can't read it....so am considering a spreadsheet of some sort. Secondly, have you considered speech recognition software rather than typing on a keyboard? Do you know any authors who do use voice recognition software? Greatly enjoy your work...you are very talented! Best Regards! Ken

Just wondering - are you able to disclose any information on the filming of the upcoming Sharpe TV episodes, or is it confidential? By the way, I bought Sharpe's Christmas to get into the Christmas spirit, and loved it - it's got a lovely balance of Christmas spirit and Sharpe's typical sheer bloody-mindedness. Thanks very much, and hope you have a great Christmas! Jen

Merry Christmas, Mr. Cornwell! Your work, and that of George MacDonald Fraser, sparked an intense interest in British military history that has led me to choose that subject for my Master's thesis. Specifically I'm planning to write about the British infantry (focusing mostly on the Napoleonic and Victorian eras) and try to explore what made them so disciplined and steady under fire. I'm wondering what your take on the subject is? Do you put it down simply to training, or may it have something to do with something imparted by British cultural traditions? Thank you very much for your time. I'm anxiously awaiting the release of your next book(s). Sincerely, Jim Shaw (Vancouver, WA, USA).

Hi Bernard, I have recently spent 6 months in Afghanistan on tour with the British Army. During this time I read all 3 of the grail quest books. You capture the feel and sounds and sight of war so well, I doubt the way soldiers are will change ever from the Romans until the end of time. Your books were a joy to read on dark nights in that place, I have recently studied all I can about the battle of Agincourt and I wondered if you were ever going to base a book around that great event in English History? Many Thanks Ben

Great books. I discovered you through the saxon series, and am eagerly waiting the next installment. On the Saxon series - I'm interested in further reading on the religion of the danes during this time in history, and you seem to have a firm grasp of it. Did your knowledge come from the old ballads or is there a good reference book you would recommend?

Also - After finding the Saxon stories, I've found that you seem to be well known for the Sharpe Books. How do you recommend a new reader get started with Sharpe? Chronological order or published order? Matthew Malin

Hello Mr. Cornwell, I am an avid reader of your books and enjoy the style of your writing, I have been waiting for your latest book "Sword Song" to go on sale in Canada. One quick question..are you planning on a series of books about the Norman Conquest of England, this is a particular time of history that is meaningful to my family as our ancestors arrived in England at this time. Thank you for the years of good reading and look forward to any new books in the future. Andrew Curzon