Your Questions

Q

Dear Sir, I'm Portuguese and I do like your books about Sharpe's adventures, specially, the ones occurred in Portugal, during the Peninsular War. In Portugal, not all novels about Sharp are translated. My familiar roots are in Beira Alta region where it is situated Almeida and near Fuentes de Onor. So, I would like you to confirm me if there is any Sharp's novel about the Battle of Sabugal, in 1811 where the english/portuguese armies, commanded by Wellington smashed the Napoleonic troops? Just a small clarification: ideas, concepts, principles are not protected by copyright, this is an international copyright law principle. So, if the answer to my question is no, and you consider the idea interesting, please go forward. Your Portuguese fans would appreciate very much. Thank you for your attention. Kind regards, Filipe Lousa

Submitted September 12, 2007

A

It's a book I haven't written yet. I deliberately left that battle for something to amuse me in my old age, which rapidly approaches.

Q

Hi I have read and thoroughly enjoyed all your books and have most as 1st Editions. Sharpe still remains my personal favorite but I also am attracted to the early thriller novels. These do not seemed to have had your attention recently. This leads me to my question. Do you get feed back from the publishers as to how many copies each novel sells and does this influence your choice of future projects. Do you know which of all the novels has sold the most copies. Thanks for all the fantastic books and the wealth of historical information contained in them. Best Regards Terry

Submitted September 12, 2007

A

I don't ask, and I'm genuinely not interested, because I write what I want to read!

Q

Dear Bernard, Sword Song is a great book like the other three. When (oh pray) can we expect to see the next one? Henning

DEAR BERNARD LOVED SWORD SONG, HOW LONG FOR THE NEXT INSTALLMENT? EVERY NOVEL YOU WRITE LEAVES ME IN EAGER ANTICIPATION. KIND REGARDS, DAVE CROZIER

Submitted September 12, 2007

A

I'm afraid you must wait till 2009. Sorry.

Q

Dear Mr. Cornwell, Please forgive me for the length of this message. There are so many things I have always wanted to ask you and I was a little enthusiastic! I had always wished to find a way of writing to you and I decided to type your name in to google and this website came up. I just wish to tell you how much your books have meant to me over the last few years. I had always been a great fan of Wellington (I even went to Wellington College) and the first time I came across your books was when I was 13. I confess I was sceptical at first, simply out of ignorance (forgive me, I was 13). I started with Sharpe's Tiger and read the whole series back to back. I am now 19 and have read the whole series 3 times. I find your narrative style incredibly exciting and engaging; yet it is not only your brilliant characterisation and plots that make these books unique - your research and passion for the subject rivals and exceeds many professional historians (many biographies I have read don't even mention Gawilghur!) I think Sharpe is a wonderful character; as Sean Bean says "He's a right tough bastard", but is also inspirational and empathetic. I love your portrayal of Wellington as well; you really bring out the cool intellect he is said to have had. There is a question I would appreciate you opinion on; I am a big fan of the Duke and I would like to know who you think was a better general - Wellington or Napoleon. It is something that I often think about. I believe that their characters reflect and enhanced their performance in the field. Napoleon, as the more 'romantic' of the two, often took huge gambles and fought great decisive battles. I feel many people think Wellington could not do this, but I believe them utterly wrong. As he himself said "England has but one army, so we had best take care of it." He entered Portugal with 30,000 men and defeated divided French armies time and again and pushed them out of Spain. He did not have the 675,000 men that Napoleon wasted in Russia, so he could not afford to be defeated even once. Thus the retreats back to Portugal, but does this not give him a quality over Napoleon? Planning and knowing when not to attack. As for his decisiveness (as you yourself show so wonderfully in your books), did he not show this at Assaye and Gawilghur (in which he took risks equal to any that Napoleon took) and Salamanca etc.? Also, Napoleon didn't take in to account any of the factors that his army would face (other than the Russians) in his 1812 campaign, whereas Wellington planned to the last detail his 600 mile crossing of the Deccan plains to Ahmednuggur and his army arrived in tact in a mere 2 months. I am currently reading "Who Won Waterloo?" by Barry Van Danzig. He has spent almost 30 years researching the battle, building his own model on the basis of Siborne's and replaying the battle to see how it was won (i.e. by failing health on Napoleon's part, or if the Prussians won the battle). Wellington positioned himself in such a way as Napoleon could not outmanoevre him (the 17,000 troops at Hal) and Napoleon's plan was very good, bearing this in mind. It annoys me when people belittle the Duke's achievement by saying that Napoleon was 'ailing'. I read a comparison of the 2 men by Major-General John Strawson (who speaks very highly of your Sharpe's Waterloo) who says "It cannot be doubted that Napoleon was the greater general..." and I do doubt this. I was just wondering what you thought as I hold your opinion in such high esteem. Thank you so much for being so patient with me and this 'essay' (sorry!). I wish you the best of health and success with your future books (all of which I will read). If it means anything coming from a complete stranger such as myself (who has probably bored you half to death with this message), then I believe that you are the greatest writer to write historical fiction (if this is what the genre is called). Yours sincerely, Tom Humphreys P.S. I didn't mention the Warlord Chronicles; these in my opinion excel even the Sharpe books - there is such a feeling of tragedy every time I read them. Even when things are going well you know that it can't last. Your re-interpretation of the Arthurian legend is so original - I feel like it is actually history, as they are so layered and detailed.

Submitted September 12, 2007

A

My vote would go to Wellington, but I'm dreadfully biased. Nevertheless it's a fact that W never lost a battle (his only defeat was the 1812 failure of the Siege of Burgos), and Napoleon lost several, including, of course, the final of the Napoleonic Wars. That said it's also true that Napoleon operated on a much greater canvas than Wellington, who was the servant of his political masters. Napoleon gambled with whole countries and, for most of his career, was his own political master. There's no doubt that Napoleon was a master strategist on a continental level, and Wellington never really operated at that level (and probably would not have wanted to). As tacticians there's probably not much between them; at their best they were both battlefield geniuses (Austerlitz and Salamanca). Where, I think, Wellington has the edge is in his understanding of the whole machinery of his army. He is an engineer of war, fighting a temperamental artist. Wellington, also, has a consistency that Napoleon lacks. My guess is that the question best answered with another question; which one would you rather serve? For me the answer is Wellington!

Q

I am a junior in highschool and am doing an independent study class on the American civil war. I am using the information I find to write a historical fiction story that chronicles my characters life in the 27th Virginia infantry under Stonewall Jackson. I have run into a wall as far as training camps go. There I nothing online and very little more than names in books. Do you know any resources to find out about training camps in Virginia. thanks for any help, Sam

Submitted September 12, 2007

A

There is not, so far as I know, an easy source - or certainly none that I know of. I think you'll also find that training in the Confederate States was a very disorganised affair, depending on local resources and differing from county to county. My best advice is to do what I did and read as many first person accounts as possible and take from them what information you find there. I do remember there was a big training camp in Richmond, but what my source for that was I really cannot remember. First person accounts! There are plenty of them and they are marvellous sources!

Q

: Hello Mr Cornwell just finished Sharpe's Waterloo which I think is your best Sharpe novel. It is the only Sharpe book I read slowly. Do not know why. You have hinted that you might write about Agincourt. I have read that before the battle King Henry had ALL the names of his men written down and sent to England .Do you know if this is true and why? Why would a King care about the common people? Lots more where they came from. Do look forward to your next book. Regards Nicholas.

Submitted September 12, 2007

A

I'm just starting that book. The king would hardly order that, I think, because the list already existed in the form of the muster rolls (most of which still survive). Why would he care? You sound like Napoleon, who didn't care (after the battle of Austerlitz, surveying the French dead, he callously remarked that the women of Paris could replace them in one night). Henry V cared because his life, his kingdom and his reputation depended on the skill and fighting spirit of his men. He cared because he was not a fool.

Q

I've just finished Sword Song 2 days after buying it! Brilliant, I could'nt put it down, probably one of the best books and storylines I've ever read! i just wish the next chapter in the saxon stories was ready.....any chance of another grail quest book too?!
Tim Harris

Submitted September 12, 2007

A

Thanks! Glad to know you enjoyed Sword Song. No plans to add another book to the Grail Quest series.

Q

I AM SURE YOU HAVE BEEN ASKED THIS A MILLION TIMES BEFORE!, ARE THERE ANY PLANS TO PUT THE ARTHUR BOOKS ON TO TV OR FILM, THESE ARE MY ABSOLUTE FAVOURITE BOOKS OF ALL TIME!, I HAVE READ EACH OF THEM AT LEAST SIX OR SEVEN TIMES IN THE LAST YEAR!, I ALSO ENJOY THE SAXON STORIES IMMENSELY. KIND REGARDS, RICHARD CARDOW

Submitted September 12, 2007

A

No plans...

Q

Hello Mr Cornwell, just been reading your Uhtred series and I have a couple of questions for you. I'm slightly puzzled by your portrayal of Alfred, and I get the impression that you don't really 'like' the man very much. Do you really think someone as ineffective and uninspiring as the Alfred of your novels would have been remembered as 'Great'? Also I am intrigued to know why you choose to give the lion's share of the credit for Alfred's military victories such as Ethandun to the fictional Uhtred?? Thanks for any reply! David

Submitted September 12, 2007

A

oh dear, it is fiction. Consider Alfred - perpetually sick (probably the most debilitating Crohn's disease), with a natural bent for scholarship and a fanatical piety. Except for the last, those qualities do not suggest warrior. They do suggest a man with, perhaps, an uncommonly clever mind, and I believe it was his intelligence that gave him success, not his ability with a sword.

Q

Bernard, am late middle aged or whatever that conveys. Longtime reader of Sharpe series but enjoy Starbuck. High school history teacher in another life with graduate degree from NYC University. Former member {ACW} 124th NYSV. Enough of me. You have given me hours of pleasure with your work. Enjoy. Prefer "musket and ball" stories. Bring back Starbuck. How about a "stand alone novel" ie. French Irish Brigade perhaps Lally in India with Clive? Thanks Again. Bill McVey

Submitted September 12, 2007

A

I doubt it, but I never say never . . . .