My favourite Sharpe book was Sharpe’s Prey. I like it when you go off the beaten track like that. Everyone’s heard about Waterloo but few know of the Danish angle. You also brought Saxon England to life effortlessly. Reading Melvyn Bragg’s ‘The Adventure of English’ it’s amazing how much our language has changed since those times. I noted the stunning contrast between your ninth and nineteenth centuary Danes. You wouldn’t be calling Ubba a neutral poor darling. I’d like to see you do more stuff set in less obvious historical circumstances. I’d say you’d do a great job on tenth centuary Iceland when the country was being settled (their language has hardly changed at all since) or a book set during the thirty years war on the continent (1618-1648). Looking forward to The Lords of the North. Regards Tony (Ireland)