Bulletin Board

Being Danish and reading The Last Kingdom brought back the joy I had as a kid reading Røde Orm, reportedly translated into english as The Long Ships. Vikings are fun and yours are great fun. The reason for this posting is the historical note announcing Æ as a vanished letter. Let me assure you that Æ, as well as Ø and Å are all well and still alive in the Danish alphabet. Klavs Landberg

dear Mr Cornwell I have just finished reading 'SHARPE'S ENEMY' again. Reason being, I was given Sharpe's Escape' hardback. as a presant but I could not bring myself to read it bcause it interrupted the sequence of the books. So I had to read them from the begining again. I do enjoy them, but if you are writing any new Sharpe's books, will it be in the near future? By the way I do agree with you getting shot of Hakeswill, it was a mistake, he was an evil charactor and I always looked forward to reading how the hell he was going to get out of the next scrape. His death by firing squard was too good for him I would have liked him to die a slow death, befitting his character. Barry

Dear Mr. Cornwell, I have had the great fortune, not to mention the unexpected abundance of free time, to finish the entire Sharpe's series and would simply like to express my admiration for authoring what was quite a literary journey for me. I was first turned onto the series by a chance viewing of the movies. I began reading the series once I realized that my present duties in Iraq were not to be very demanding. Instead of getting irate or disappointed I chose to catch up on about three years of reading to fill in the 'dead time'. I suppose I got more out of the saga because I have shared some of the same impressions in life and thoughts as the characters. To me, at least, it made the story more alive than when I read Julius Caesar's account of the campaigns in Gaul. To give you an idea of the amount of dead time I've suffered here, I started and finished the Sharpe's series, The Hornblower series and most of the Aubrey-Maturin novels. I won't elaborate on the nature of my job but I am a mechanic without a toolbox. Again, I am merely sending my gratitude for creating so entertaining and exciting a world, more so as its basis is actual events, and making this year go by rather fast in the process. SSG Dennis M. Dutton

Dear Mr. Cornwell, I am serving in Iraq with the Bristish Army, which as you can imagine is a rather bothersome affair (i'll let you decide which part). I'm afraid I must admit I had never seen or read your Sharpe range, but at a lonley US Army outpost I met a fellow Brit who lent me the series on DVD. It was in short, fantastic, although I had to move on and didn't finish the whole thing!! Whilst fictional, I managed to draw great resolve from your creation, which bolstered my spirit at a time when I was pretty low. I still can't stop humming "Over the Hills and far away" which amuses the US troops I am with to no end. I would just like to say thank you, from a soldier, serving overseas. Best regards, Christian Stephen-Martin Iraq

I love the Sharpe books and in an idle moment visited and enjoyed your website. I noted on the bullitin board a comment regarding the amalgamation of various regiments to form a Rifle Division, and the author's comment that the popularity of Richard Sharpe perhaps being an influence. As an ex Royal Green Jacket (Mortar Platoon) during the time of Sharpe's earlier endeavors the influence in the Regiment was very apparent, and I well remember one particular (unpleasant) NBC exercise called "Sharpe's sniff". What did they say in Winchester "if you cant take a joke you shouldn't have joined right". Terrific books brilliantly written, many, many thanks :-)
Mark Wheeler

I have almost all fo your books and I was most impressed by your Starbuck series. I cannot imagine how you got the flavor of that conflict so well. Are you sure that you are not from America? I thought that you would simply put Sharpe in a confederate uniform but instead you created a unique and altogether American character. Well done, and keep him alive. I will buy and read any thing you write...do you have a grocery list I can look at sometime? Coleman Driver

Dear Mr. Cornwell, I owe you a debt of gratitude as you have given me so much pleasure and made an avid reader of my son who adores your work. I am in the U.S. and became hooked on the "Sharpe" series from the U.K., proceeded to buy your entire series, passed them onto my son, who in turn inhaled them and read them manym many times. After the Sharpe series, we literally have gone back and ordered, over time, everything you have ever written from the U.K. and in the states, including your most recent work. Thank you for so many wonderful novels, expertly and beautifully crafted. You have a tremendous gift and you can transport a reader to exciting other worlds. I cannot thank you enough for what you have given me and my son over the years. I just wanted to share this with you. Please know your work is loved and respected. An American fan, Tina Beamer

Hello Mr. Cornwell, Today I read the Harlequin, the battle of the ford of the river Somme. The scenes of the battle I would eat if I was a film! You believe that I am dreaming of the film of the Grail Series? I dreamed one day of these of the trailer, and already I am imagining the beginning of the film. If the film will be faithful to the novels, it goes to be one of the films with bigger ticket office of all the times! If it will be necessary, I go to read this series for third, fourth and until the fifth time! Bye Mr. Cornwell, M.M. Garrute

Dear Bernard I've read nearly all the Sharpe novels and thoroughly enjoyed them, but I'm beginning to think I preferred the Grail Quest. Not so sure about the others, it's certainly not a criticism, the topics and periods just don't appeal quite so much - I think you feel the same way about the crusades? I always read the historical notes at the end of each book because they add a lot to the context, and I picked up your comments on the epidemiology of the Pestilence in Heretic. The anthrax theory is a bit dated - I think Ziegler introduced it in The Black Death (1970s)- and there's a lot of current research on the possibility of a haemorrhagic fever such as Marburg or Ebola being involved. Liverpool Universty are running tests on the remains of victims to try and identify the DNA traces of the viruses. Looking forward to the next book! Martyn Kerr

I've been thrilled with the Saxon series. After reading the Arthur books I had been hoping for something like this, as it's my favorite period of British history. Nuts to Starbuck. There are loads of people writing Civil War novels, but there aren't many people who are literate in Old English and can write a good Saxon novel. I'm thrilled with the news that you expect this to be a long-running series. I recently reread Sharpe's Escape, and wanted to pass on that it's my favorite of the Sharpes. I really enjoyed the way that Sharpe was essentially a force of nature. I loved that Ferragus saw Sharpe coming for almost half the book, and was terrified of him after the escape. And to hell with character continuity; I enjoyed the way that Sharpe dealt with Lawford and other superiors, without the awkwardness and self-doubt he had in the first batch of books. I'd love to see more of this Sharpe. Thanks for taking the time to read and respond to loads of fan email, even if you have to answer "the Starbuck question" on a weekly basis. It's appreciated.
Eric Sivers