Your Questions

Q

Mr Cornwell, I love your books especially the Starbuck and Arthur ones. You write excellent supporting female characters - why don't you pick some glam military heroine and write about her as the main character? Amanda Clarke-Prebble

Submitted June 4, 2004

A

What a good question. I shall think on it!

Q

Mr. Cornwell, I have been reading your Sharpe series (I am reading Sharpe's Siege right now), and I have also read "Rebel." It seems like the characters think about religion quite a bit. --It also seems like the subject is presented in many different moods. Some of your characters seem very angry about religion, some seem to use religion to manipulate people, some have a peace from it. Because of that, it is very difficult to get a sense of how you feel about religion. Richard Sharpe, for example, claims to not be religious, but at times betrays an uncertainty regarding the existence of God. Then you have Nate Starbuck, who in the first book very strongly believes in the existence of God; but seems to be willfully setting out to go against God's law. Of course, it does not help that his father was a violent man. Anyway, that is just to illustrate the presence of religion in your books. So, I was wondering how big a part religion plays in your life or in your past? --I do enjoy your books. I learn a lot from them, and I am impressed by the research that goes into understanding the battlefield. I have read almost all your Sharpe books. I still have to read Sharpe's Revenge, Sharpe's Waterloo, Sharpe's Devil, and Sharpe's Escape; as well as the short stories. Thanks for providing such an interesting way to study history. I plan on continuing reading your books, probably I will read the Warlord series next. Kelly

Submitted June 4, 2004

A

How big a part? Not very big.

Q

Sir, Once again thank you. Thank you for not only writing a truly brilliant novel - I have just finished Sharpe's Seige - but also thank you for continuing to educate and inform. In Sharpe's Seige you make reference to a signpost that has had the mile figure erased to be replaced by the amount in kilometres. I never imagined that kilometres actually went as far back as the early 1800's but there you go. I have a question for you. For me what makes your books so superior to any other author I have read are two things. Firstly, your telling of action and battles is first class. It is almost as if the reader is there deep in the middle of the action. At times it takes your breath away. Secondly, the dialogue is wonderful. It can be funny or touching or dramatic, but it is always believable and very easily readable. The dialogue in Sharpe's Seige where Sharpe wants Harper to let him pull his bad tooth is excellent. Which do you find the easist - the action or the dialogue? Which comes first when you are plotting and drafting a new novel? Which do you feel is the most important? Which do you enjoy writing the most? Thankyou again. Barry Evans

Submitted June 4, 2004

A

They're equally important, I suspect - and neither really comes first - they come together as you write the book, which is an entirely unhelpful answer, for which I apologise, but I rarely know what's going to happen in a book when I start it, so I just keep going, page by page, and the dialogue and action fall into place (I hope). I enjoy writing both - no real preference there.

Q

First I don't know if you have any children but if you do when you're writing do they pop their head over your shoulder and ask "what ya doing" and do you educate them in the world of Sharpe? 2nd :who is your favorite character? NOW DON'T say you don't have one, there must be one you loved creating or love writing about. SHAND

Submitted June 4, 2004

A

No children to interrupt me. And my favourite character, other than Sharpe? Derfel, in the Arthur books, Uhtred, the hero of The Last Kingdom, coming in October, and, of course, the wondrous Obadiah Hakeswill.

Q

Have finished Sharpe's Escape and would like to pass on my congratulations to you for another excellent read. To take an expression from Public TV, each one is "time well spent". One question I do have is a comment from Capt. Leroy concerning compensation for property lost during the American Revolution. Who was paying this compensation and was it never paid? Paul Morgan

Submitted June 4, 2004

A

Never paid. Descendants are still waiting . . . .

Q

Dear Mister Cornwell, Just want to ask some questions. Will you be coming near Ireland in the near future for book signing. Very interesting. Another question is; what month was Sharpe born in? Was it June or July 1777. Sources are confusing. Thanks a million, continue the Sharpe Legacy. Greatest reading ever. Quite influencing. Colum O'Rourke.

Submitted June 2, 2004

A

I don't know what the sources are - did I ever mention his birthdate in any of the books? In my notes - made long before the first book was written - he was born on June 23rd, 1777. Ireland is not on the calendar at the moment, but I hope to be there at some point!

Q

I am currently researching Arthurian history. (Incidently, thanks to your Warlord chronicles which remain my most read and loved books from the time I first picked them off my dad's book shelf to this day!) Much of the books' action takes place in the Welsh counties. Whilst I am well aware that the books are fictional, I also know you did much research on the subject. Please could you enlighten me as to which sources led you to place the action in the Welsh counties? All the historians that I seem to be reading are claiming the historical Arthur was infact fighting most of his battles in Scotland. I think I'm more inclined to believe Wales and Cornwall were the actual setting, but I don't know where to look or what to read to aid my theory! Thank you for your help. And for the books, they are without a doubt the most inspiring tales I have read. Annie Evershed

Submitted June 2, 2004

A

It's a tough one. Northern historians fancy Scotland, the rest go for Wales and the West Country. The truth is we have no good sources, so it's impossible to point you at a book and say the answer lies within, because it doesn't. But my reasoning goes something like this. The historical Arthur made his name by fighting the invading Saxons. The Saxons, we know, started their incursions in the south-east. Their natural invasion route is up the Thames valley which leads to - the west country and Wales. The legend of Arthur was carried by the defeated Britons west into Wales and north into Scotland, so it's quite possible that there are two separate strands remembering the same events but locating them close to home - one west, one north. The great thing about the Arthur legends is that they're endlessly malleable - so you can make of them what you will, but my money's still on Wales and the west country.

Q

Hi, I have just read Sharpe's Tiger, Triumph and Fortress and thought they were brilliant. As I was browsing in my nearby Ottakars it showed that chronologically speaking (life of Sharpe not publication) the last book is Sharpe's Devil - do you have any plans to write further adventures of Sharpe after 1821, perhaps he could go to Egypt and help in deciphering the Rosetta stone (Like Sharpe would be able to do that, well it is fiction lol) or perhaps the Anglo-Burmese war of 1823? Joshua Selig

Submitted June 2, 2004

A

I honestly don't know if I'll write Sharpe past 1815 again - my inclination is not to do it, but who knows? And, knowing Sharpe, I somehow doubt he'd be really interested in the Rosetta Stone! But who knows?

Q

Dear Mr. Cornwell, I am curious--why did you decide to have Jane Gibbons change from a brave, caring young wife to an adulterous thief? Such a change seems extraordinary to me. Peter Shea

Submitted June 2, 2004

A

Because sometimes the characters decide their own destiny and I have remarkably little to do with it, and I fear that's what happened in that case.

Q

I love reading your books and only regret that you can't write as fast as I can read. I love reading about history and especially enjoy studying a subject after reading your novels. I have found, that unlike most historical fiction authors, your work is mostly accurate and when it isn't, you mention the reasoning behind it at the end of the book. I don't know if you look at links or not but I am a member of a military history forum. We need more members that have great knowledge of history. The site is actually a military history site with articles on various periods of history. It has always been my dream to have you join and thought I would give it a shot. The site is www.Militaryhistoryonline.com. I don't know if this falls under suggestions for a book or not but have you ever considered writing about the Roman Empire? I hope this is vague enough to avoid lawyer trouble. Thanks Michael Vogel

Submitted June 2, 2004

A

Thanks for the invitation Michael, but I can't imagine when I would find the time! I do consider the Roman Empire, and every time I lie down until the thought has passed. Conn Iggulden does it much better, so I'll leave it to him.