I felt I had to write and tell you how much pleasure I’ve received from your novels.  I rarely do such things, mostly because I’m certain that successful authors are far too busy to be able to read the hundreds of letters and emails they must receive.  Your comments on this site, however, seemed to encourage such things so here goes.

My first Cornwell novel was “The Last Kingdom”.  Never have I been so intrigued by a character or a by any novel as I was by that tale of Uhtred.  The remaining books in the series filled my shelves quickly and I found myself becoming one of those Americans who, not exposed to the depth of English history as much as those raised in Great Britain, become absolutely entranced with the rich historical landscape of such a small but historically massive island.  And delving into Uhtred’s life has paid off in so many unexpected ways.  With the popularity of History Channel’s “Vikings” series I feel I can now discuss the merits of shield walls and the nuances of Norse sailing techniques with the best of them.

After completing that series I moved on to the rest of your books.  I particularly enjoyed the Nathaniel Starbuck series especially since I hail from the deep south and can appreciate a more balanced few of that terrible conflict.

And, by the way, I did very much enjoy “The Fort”.  I would hope that most Americans aren’t so blind in their patriotism that they’re unable to see the shortcomings of our fledgling army and navy in the sad campaign.

I could go on with glowing reviews of all of your books but I think I’ve made my point.  I’m a fan of all of them.  Well, perhaps I can’t really say that.  You see, I have not started your most successful series.  I don’t know why I’ve saved Sharpe until now but I now have a copy of “Sharpe’s Tiger”.  Is that a good place to start or would it better to read them in the order they were written?

Thank you so much for the countless hours of entertainment and education.  My wife and I will be traveling to Great Britain next year and, thanks to your work, we have filled our itinerary with sites that will mean so much more after seeing them come to life in your novels.

Karl Ward
Montgomery, AL