Your Questions

I have just received from Amazon the 3 5-CD sets in the Sharpe Collection;Rifles, Sword and Revenge. I am looking forward to may hours of Sean Bean as Richard Sharpe and am very excited to hear that more books will be filmed. The sooner the better. My question concerns the Sharpe's Revenge Collection. Of the 5 CD's included, only two are of books, Revenge and Waterloo. The other 3 disks contain "Sharpe's Mission", "Sharpe's Justice" and "Sharpe the Legend" with "Rifleman Cooper reminiscing about Sharpe". Are these screenplay's you wrote just for the TV series? If not where did the material come from? thanks and have a good, safe trip. Larry Rubenstein

Hello Mr. Cornwell, Kudos again for all your wonderful books and for this wonderful website! As always, I learn a great deal every time I reread one of your books. I recently used information from several of them in a lecture on England and France in the early 19th c. My question: a Pierre Roger Ducos lived during the Napoleonic wars and was active in the French government during the Revolution and through the time of Waterloo. Is your Pierre Ducos based on Pierre Roger Ducos or is your Ducos totally a figment of your creativity? Thanks! Professor Catherine Helgeland

Mr. Cornwell, Having read The Pale Horsemen, I am now left with a large void. I have read all your works! I would ask you a question of your style. How, when and what are the circumstances that determine whether you write in 1st or 3rd person. I have two favorites that differ on how the story is told. Of course the Arthur series is 1st person but I loved the Starbuck series in 3rd. Thanks for your attention. John Hooper Tennessee

Hi Bernard. Not feeling too good today so I've been at home researching the Post Roman period in Britain through to late Anglo Saxon period for my illustrations. Happened to come across a BBC TV re run of a series called Meet the Ancestors in which an Archaeologist called Julian Richards tries to uncover the stories behind burials. One in particular reminded me of the scene in The Last Kingdom in which Ragnar sacrifices his horse prior to the campaign; the remains of a Saxon warrior was unearthed complete with weaponry, shield etc... and his horse! What reminded me of the said scene was the fact that the horse had been sacrificed with a blow to the forhead (sound familiar?). However, the specialist horse bone specialist pointed out a fact which I was wondering if you had heard before: horses are very difficult to kill with such a blow! What usually happened was the horse was stunned with a massive blow to the area between the eyes and then its throat was cut, often with such force that the blade would cut right through the flesh to leave marks in the backbones. Had you found evidence to the contrary as Ragnar kills the horse with a blow to the head only, or was this simply artistic license? I would be interested to hear your views. Regards Andrew Moore

You tell us in your insightful comments for first time writers to stick to the story and not educate. With the advent of the Internet, why is it that authors do not write novels with links to a web site where the reader can go and educate himself more about any point of interest - be it history, art, culture, or anything else? It seems that adding this additional dimension to a novel is the best of both worlds - it can unclutter a novel and free up and speed up the story and action, while at the same time allowing a reader to delve as deeply, or not, into any particular item of interest. Just a thought, and am interested to hear your views, particularly given the type of novel that you so expertly craft.
James Hugo

Mr Cornwell, will Sharpe ever see La Marquesa again? Also in a question I saw on your page asking about whether Sharpe's Challenge will be shown on US tv, well I have reason to belive it will be shown on bbc world wide two/three months after being shown on ITV 1 in the UNITED KINGDOM! Joe

Dear Bernard, when Alfred the Great went to Rome he thought he'd had a CORONATION. But if he had a blessing instead a CONFIRMATION would he know the differance? Do you think the Vatican would have recorded this gift of the HOLY SPIRIT! Yours hopefully Raymond. P.S.Maybe wise to tread carefully when talking about ANGELS.One may come out of heaven and "PECK" you on the nose!
Raymond Condon

Hi Bernard Love all of your books especially the advertures of Sharpe. I have one very quick question to ask if I may. I have just read in a English tabloid (not sure how truthful the source is) that Sharpes wife dies in the latest TV series "Sharpes challenge" - very disappointed to hear this as I had visions of Richard retired in France with his wife farming, if this rumour is true - I'm wondering did you have any say this plot development or not. Many thanks for all your great books. Phil

Dear Mr.Cornwell, Hello again and welcome to Australasia.In Mark Adkins Sharpe Companion,Sharpe's battles at Rolica and Vimeiro give the impression of an interesting read. So my question is this; If you don't want to go back in time again, and on the basis that the afore-mentioned battles may not have enough material for a full novel, have you thought of a Sharpe book of short stories to cover such events?I enjoyed Sharpe's Ransom, Skirmish and Christmas and would certainly enjoy a novel of such stories.I am currently employed in NZ by the company who distributes your Warlord series and am hopeful of meeting you while you are down here.Thanks.Tomas Slaine.

Bernard, I know you'll never answer this question straight away, because you probably haven't even decided yet, but I need to ask anyway- does Starbuck survive the Civil War? I realize this might be a little premature to think about because there is still so much of the war left for you to write. But I ask only because, given his background, a northerner fighting for the south, he would be a fascinating character to follow around during "The Reconstruction". Have you given any thought to his post-war fate? May I also recommend you to a good novel set in this era titled "Gabriel's Story' by David Anthony Durham. I also want to compliment you on the fact that Sharpe's continuity isn't perfect- I noticed some readers giving you flack over it lately- but I think the little inconsistencies make Sharpe feel like he is cut from the same rough cloth as other classic literary heros-like a Sherlock Holmes or a Don Quixote-an "illusion of depth" is achieved and the reader is left to wonder about the missing or unexplored episodes of the character's history. I wouldn't have it anyother way! Thanks again for all your wonderful books. R.Kulb