Dear Mr Cornwell, Im a second year undergraduate at the University of Southampton and I dont mind telling you that your books are pretty much the reason that Im studying Archaeology at the moment! Stonehenge absolutely fired my imagination and your Arthurian series are my favourite books of all time, closely followed by Thomas the archer, Uhtred and all the rest. My reason for contacting you is that Im currently writing an essay on the representation of themes in popular culture and how they affect the publics perception of the past; I chose to use Christianity in historical fiction, specifically your books The Winter King and The Last Kingdom. I should at this point probably point out that Im not really religious and I found Derfels and Uhtreds beliefs a whole lot more interesting because of the cynical views that these lent them towards Christianity. I was wondering if you would be able to tell me the extent to which you think your background led you to create these characters? Did you relate to them? Do they embody your relationship to Christianity? I have really struggled to find any sources either not written by or not influenced by Christians for this period of history and Im hoping to build the argument that your work allows us to see Christianity as an interpretation of how it may have been seen then, as in both cases your characters are arguably estranged Christians, which is an unusual twist, and that although it is fiction it is important in creating an alternative and massively under represented viewpoint for people who think that all medieval saints were martyred by the terrible pagans. I hope I havent caused any offence in asking you about your past, I read an interview you did for the telegraph and it just made me wonder if I could get through to you on here. Any insights you could give would be massively appreciated but I totally understand if you’re unable to. Kind regards and many, many thanks for all your wonderful stories! Lucy Barker