Dear Mr Cornwell, I am truly in love with your Saxon Stories series (and hope for many more to come!). So much so in fact, that I’ve decided to centre my English A Level Coursework on King Alfred. Quite what this will entail I don’t know. But i had one query about the chap. In your books, he is portrayed as a superb statesman and scholar, and a just man. But not so much as a warrior, at least himself personally. Of course, this is where Uhtred comes in, but nonetheless I’ve taken for granted that Alfred was a frail chap, not really up for a shield war or anything of the sort. But all these websites i encounter seem to say (assume?), he’s a ‘great warrior’ or had ‘great military prowess’. Of course, I’m sticking with your depiction of Alfy, but i was wondering if you hadn’t any comment regarding this? Maybe just that a great warrior king astride a magnificent stallion is more romantic that one, who ultimately, might have been hobbling around on crutches? Thanks :) George p.s. sorry its so frightfully long