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Hi Bernard, sorry to say I have no pressing historical question I'd like answering - just wanted to let you know how enthralling I have found the story of Uhtred of Bebbanburg! A month ago I foolishly managed to read Lords of the North first! To my joy I discovered there were already two more books detailing Uhtred's rise. Naturally I went back to the start with the Last Kingdom, barely paused for breath with Pale Horseman and as I write I'm 53 pages back into Lords! As I approach my forties I can look back and say I have read many of the classic 'must reads' we're told we must digest if we're to call ourselves 'literary'. And I have never had so much fun with a book - been so enthralled and pulled into the life of a time, a set of characters, as I have been with the Saxon trilogy. And to top it all - Sword Song in September! I know it is daft to write this - but Bernard, thank you so much for giving me such fine entertainment. I hope Uhtred has many more tales to recount. Erm... and Ragnar too! Cheers, Neal Cresswell

Dear Mr Cornwell, Sharpe repeats on UK TV have given me great pleasure and have sent me back to the books with fresh enthusiasm. Thank you. Steve Lovering London.

I have read most of your works and would like to say thanks for the enjoyment they have given to me. Thanks also for your website and your personal contributions to it. My reason for writing at this time is because of the 22nd June posting from Jeff from Indiana who wrote about a stone fort along the Ohio River. He said "If these stone structures were not built by Madoc and his colony than I would like to know who did?! The Indians did not build with stone." In his excellent book "Frauds, Myths, and Mysteries: Science and Pseudoscience in Archaeology", anthropologist Kenneth L. Feder briefly mentions excavations at one of the "better known forts in central Tennessee" said to have supported the Welsh hypothesis. He says there was no physical evidence to support that hypothesis and that "...the fort, which is really little more than a hilltop enclosed with a stone wall, contained artifacts made by American Indians, not Europeans". Carbon dates "indicate that the stone fort was built and used sometime between A.D. 30 and 430". Regards, Mike (South West Essex)

Sir. No need to contract me back but I just want to say keep up the great work!! I got hooked on the Arthur series a few years back and now just finished the 3rd book in the Saxon series and can't wait for number 4. You have that special knack of bring out the human qualities in your characters so the reader really can relate to them. I especially like how you can take a historical event and put us right there. I really enjoy how you give your special "spin" on things that take the "legend or the text book" version and make it sound like it could have realistically occurred. Thank you and again, keep doing your great job!! Rick Kaduce Rockford, IA.

I have just finished the third book(Lords of the North) in the the Saxon Tales. I certainly have become a fan of yours, since I began these readings. I am also glad to read that a new adventure of Uhtred will be coming out in January of 2008. Keep up the the very interesting tales of life in the late 800's and early 900's in England. Thank you from a new fan

Ron Gacioch

Just a quick blurb to write more of the Starbuck Chronicles. I understand your reasons for putting him on hold, but I hope you'll find some time for them soon. And a Gallows Thief sequel as well. Thanks, Mitchell Stout

I love your books, especially the Arthur and Alfred stories. I have just read "A Crowning Mercy" and felt so strongly that I have to let you know how moved I was by the ending. Never before have your books (or any book) made me cry, but this one did, in joy, at the end with such a wonderful twist. Is this because your wife had some input? I don't need a reply. I just wanted you to be aware of how much pleasure this book in particular brought to me. Regards, Chrisitne M Crossland

Just would like to thank you, have just finished the grail quest trilogy, best thing on history made the whole era come to life for me, read all three novels one after the other could not put them down. I am now starting the Saxon stories, so for just as good, also read the Arthur books which i enjoyed your research is the best, brings history to life for me,again I thank you. Colin
Blake

Hi I have just raced through the 3 Saxon Tales; I cant wait for the next one. They are among the best novels I have read. Thank you for providing such great entertainment! I would love to see them turned into a TV series, (a movie could not do them justice) perhaps the team that brought Rome to HBO? Again thank you for sharing! Ashley

"Nope, because the target was solid, and a line of men isn't. And they were not metres! probably paces! And Wellington, of course, was absolutely right in enquiring whether it was not possible to raise a Corps of Archers! Sadly there were none left in England, or none to compare with the men of Crecy and Agincourt. The longbow was far more accurate than the musket, had a comparable range, and a vastly higher rate of fire. I watched a trained archer, using a bow with a draw weight in excess of a hundred pounds, put 15 out of 18 arrows through a Frenchman sized target at a range of 150 yards, all inside sixty seconds. A musket would have been really lucky to have got one ball close to that target in the same time! " However, it IS metres for the test I mentioned. To be any good with a longbow you have to be VERY strong and you need a lifetime practise. Musketmen were hardly trained at all. If a man trains nearly his whole life with a musket, surely he gets better, too. (Many tests distinguish between "recruits" and "trained shooters" and there IS a big difference! Some of the results are formidable, please believe me, Sir!!!) Wellington was a dreamer asking for a Corps of Archers. Probably there weren't even 10 men in whole England who could win (using longbows) against 10 French Fusiliers. Therefore I hate this comparison between musket and bow. It's not that simple I think! ;)Kai