Dear Mr Cornwell, I just wanted to thank you for the Alfred series. Not many have bothered with the Saxons (apart from the brilliant Last English King by Rathbone) For me its a fascinating period of history that was ripped from us by the Norman Conquest and is rarely taught. There is an argument that the real dark ages for the British isles were started by the Norman conquest of 1066 and their brutal conquest of england then wales etc. So I am delighted to read these books as it has really caught the imagination. Also your portrayal of the early Christians always makes me chuckle and I have no doubt they could be that awful and could be again if given the opportunity. Edward Romer-Lee