Written by: Jonathan Hopkins
Submitted By: Jonathan Hopkins
Dear Bernard I blame Richard Sharpe. And my late father. Dad left me a boxful of your novels, and Sharpe's snide remarks about the British cavalry (with a few honourable exceptions) got my goat. They couldn't have all been that bad, could they? So I read and read, until my wife was sick of me talking about the 'bl**dy cavalry'. And I thought, on balance, that historians had been particularly unkind to the horsemen. Now I'm no historian (a surfeit of political history at school throttled any interest) but I've always been quite good at stories. Someone needed to play fair with the cavalry, and I thought, 'I can write a book just as well as this Cornwell fella.' What a naive fool I was! Anyway, the end result is that my first novel was published this month. Entitled 'Walls of Jericho' (ISBN1849230307), it tells the story of two young cavalrymen in the years leading up to Vimeiro, the action peaking with the 20th Light Dragoons disastrous (or perhaps not!)charge across the battlefield. I couldn't resist including a tiny homage to Sharpe's men, which any of your fans who read the story may spot. I would not have started writing, let alone complete and publish the book, without the inspiration you provided, and I'll be forever grateful to you for that. When the first copies were delivered, my mother held one up, had a little weep and said, 'Your father would have loved this.' That alone was worth all the effort. I hope you manage to find enough gaps in Mister Sharpe's career to write at least a half-dozen more adventures - my current set is beginning to get pretty dog-eared from use! My very best wishes, and compliments of the season to you and your family. Kind regards, Jonathan Hopkins www.cavalrytales.co.uk.
