Dear Mr. Cornwell, I’ve just started reading your “Sharpe” series and am finding them most enjoyable and informative. Since I never studied any history at school, I’ve found it extremely enjoyable ever since and the Napoleonic Wars occupied me as a reader and occasional wargamer in my twenties. I enjoy your mixture of education and entertainment. After so many books, details may escape you, but is rifleman Matthew Dodds (Sharpe’s Havoc) the same who did so well when separated from his company in C.S.Forester’s novel? I hope so, it would be a pretty compliment to Hornblower’s creator. Thanks again for your work. John Clark, Dunedin, New Zealand.