Your Questions

Q

Please, do not retire before you write another superb novel about Agincourt !! Any plans for Marlborough ?? short answer will do thanks. G. A. Margaritis, Athens Greece

Submitted February 5, 2005

A

Agincourt is a possibility. Marlborough I've thought about, but I'm not sure it will ever happen.

Q

Can you please tell me if Sharpe is fact or fiction, if fiction did you base him on anybody? Mark Griffin

Submitted February 3, 2005

A

Fiction - not based on anything but my imagination.

Q

Hello Mr Cornwell, once again thank you for answering. When an NCO was promoted to an officer, was he able to chose wich regiment he was promoted in, so long as it was not his own or would it be whichever had a vacancy? Would a man promoted for being in a forlorn hope be able to chose? Could you answer me, as I am curious, Could you tell me a little more about Hogan as his character is not mentioned very much in the books, is he a Catholic, and if so how did he become an Officer? I know the Artillery and Sappers did not have a purchase system like the infantry and Cavalry, but surely the Penal laws still applied? And speaking of purchase system, did officers have to purchase within the regiment of Corps that they had first joined, or were they free to chose? My best wishes to you and yours, and I hope as you have said you are giving Sharpie a rest, that means that we may see a bit more of Satrbuck? Whether or not I eagerly look forward to whatever it is you write, Mickey O'Donohoe

Submitted February 3, 2005

A

An NCO made up to officer was rarely promoted within his own regiment, the feeling being that he would never overcome the familiarity of the ranks. That rule wasn't absolute, but tended to break down in wartime. Nor could a man choose. He would go wherever there was a vacancy, and that would invariably mean an unfashionable regiment, or one that was posted to the West Indies which (because of Yellow fever) was virtually a death sentence. Such a man would NEVER get posted to, say, the Guards. You're right about the Penal Laws, but I've found dozens of cases where Irish Catholics prospered in the army, and the explanation seems to have been that they didn't poke their heads over the parapet. In other words, they shut up about being Catholic, and, especially in wartime when there was a shortage of good men, a tacit policy of 'don't ask, don't tell' prevailed. Wellington, especially, was sensible about this, but he was sensible about most things.

Q

Dear Mr. Cornwell, I am currently reading "Stonehenge" (actually listening to it on tape) and am a bit troubled by some of your historical choices. From what I have read, there is fairly scant evidence of regular human sacrifice in 2000 BCE and certainly not on the scale that you describe. Am I missing some reliable scholarship? Similiarly, most human sacrifice (wherever it was practiced), as I'm sure you're aware, had some social value (getting rid of the weak, or one's enemies (if you were Aztec), etc.) and I can see none in sacrificing prime breeding stock. Besides wanting to give the best to the Gods, what compelled you to choose this? While I disagree strongly with some of your choices, it certainly is a ripping good yarn, and I will read your Arthur series when I have finished Mary Stewart's Merlin Trilogy (plus her recent fourth book) as well as the original Morte D'Arthur. Cheers and thanks! Stephan Collins

Submitted February 3, 2005

A

You're missing the child found with a split skull in the centre of Woodhenge, which archaeologists deduce must have been a sacrifice, and it's arguable that the archer at Stonehenge was a sacrifice too, and my own reading of 'primitive' societies, in the anthropological books, suggests that they did use sacrifice widely. Of course breeding stock was valuable, but if you don't sacrifice something valuable then the gods will ignore you or even whack you (they're like that). Thanks for your comments! But I think we'll have to agree to disagree.

Q

Having read all the Sharpe Novels, right up to Escape and seen all of the TV shows on DVD and sounding like your typical fan (sorry but I can't help it, I'm just a big fan of your work), I have to say I'm a bit puzzled by one of the TV shows. In Sharpe's Justice, there a few major differences to the Sharpe story, mainly his mother dying, his brother and Sharpe finding out these details. I was just wondering if you helped to write this part of the Sharpe legend and if you didn't what your thoughts on it were? Thanks Keith Lutener

Submitted February 3, 2005

A

I had nothing whatever to do with it, nor was my opinion sought, and I sort of ignore it - or at least, for the purposes of writing Sharpe, I ignore it. I like the programmes, so no complaints, but I don't feel bound by any of the facts they used.

Q

I have just read "A Crowning Mercy" and now purchased "Fallen Angels". I gather they have both been recently re-released, here in Australia at least. I noticed they were originally published in 1983. They are both under your name and Susannah Kells - I am interested to know how you came to write these 2. Or was it Mrs Cornwell? A Crowning Mercy was very enjoyable and I am expecting Fallen Angels to be the same, however the brief story on the back of the book states that Campion is Toby's sister - in Crowning Mercy they got married?? I am an avid reader of your novels and love Sharp. Regards, Kevin

Submitted February 3, 2005

A

A Crowning Mercy takes place in 1643 - Fallen Angels in 1792 - and continues the chronicle of the Lazender family. The books were written years ago, the result of a small wager among friends.

Q

Mr Cornwell, thank you for your excellent books such as your Warlord Chronicles, which in my opinion are some of the greatest and most moving pieces of literature ever. Just a few questions: I like the way you placed little or unknown characters from the Arthurian legend into your trilogy such as Druidan and Sebile. My question is, what made you decide that the 'mad' and 'strange' characters such as them in Merlin's domain? In the formation of a shield wall, do the men in the ranks behind the first line have their shield in a 'ready' position in case the wall breaks or do they have them slung over their backs? In the british army, when did the ranks we have today and during the earlier wars come into practise? Thanks again for the books, Pete

Submitted February 1, 2005

A

Probably because that's the best place for them! Merlin is mysterious, after all, and I suspect he would have attracted like-minded people.

My own suspicion is the second rank use their shields to protect the heads of the men in front, while those behind will have their shields in the 'ready' position - so that they can replace the casulties from the forward ranks. You would have found recognisable ranks by the early eighteenth century. Obviously they existed before - Shakespeare has corporals and captains - but the rank system was codified in the late sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries.

Q

Dear Bernard I live a few miles from the ridgeway and some of the sites mentioned in the Last Kingdom (last week popped into Englefield) and at some point in the spring will visit them. Have you visited this area or the ridge way? If you did, does this inspire you? Looking forward to The White Horse. regards, Kevin

Submitted February 1, 2005

A

Many, many times, and I walked part of the Ridgeway again when I was researching the book. Such visits are always useful - it's almost impossible to write about a place if you haven't been there, and making the trip throws up all sorts of ideas (which counts as inspiration). I've just finished the follow-up to The Last Kingdom and discovered that the likeliest place for the battle of Ethandun is almost entirely unchanged since 878 - and that's terrific! There aren't many places you can visit and think that a character from eleven hundred years before would recognise it - but they do exist.

Q

I have just finished reading the Warlord Chronicles for the second time. I have an interest in early Britain military tactics, ie the use of the Roman shield war. Where did you research the battles, both the place and outcome? Thank You. Jay Cheetham

Submitted February 1, 2005

A

There's no real place to research them, because sadly we know very little about them - even where they were fought! I offered as much information as I could in the novels' Historical Notes, and can't add a great deal, except to say that in the various books which deal with the Arthurian legends you'll get different answers to where and how the battles were fought. Gildas, the historian who wrote very shortly after Mount Badon (the most important battle) tells us the Saxons were defeated (which later Saxon sources confirm), but he doesn't say where it was, or what happened - he does say it was a siege, but not who was besieging whom, so it's all sadly vague. Camlann, the battle that ends the trilogy, is even more mysterious. The source for it having taken place at all is very, very late, and therefore suspect, and the candidates for its site range across the whole of Britain! In the end, as a novelist, you have to make an intelligent decision and hope it makes some sense!

Q

Mr Cornwell I think your novels are great and really I can't wait until the next is published. Over the past few years you developed a pattern of producing a novel every six months - a Sharpe around March followed by a complete contrast in October. I read today that there will probably not be another Sharpe until 2006/07 and the next in the Last Kingdom series will not come out until October 2005. Does this mean that you will have nothing published between now and October? John Pilkington

Submitted January 26, 2005

A

That's correct.