I guess you can judge a book by its cover sometimes. I was in Borders last year and saw the cool cover for The Last Kingdom (I loved the old Kirk Douglas movie “The Vikings” as a kid.) So I gave it a try. I blazed through The Last Kingdom and am now hooked (no pun intended re Thomas of Hookton) on your work. I’ve read all the Saxon tales, the Grail quest and am halfway through the Sharpe series. More amazingly my wife (who previously was not a huge historical fiction fan) is now ahead of me, having read all the Arthur books as well. Its amazing how much history you pick up in these books (e.g. I thought Vikings merely raided England and left; I learned the origin of the word “shrapnel” in Sharpe’s Eagle etc.) and I found out via your historical note and some research that Ensign Keogh (he of the captured eagle fame) was a relative (I’m half Irish, my mother is a Keogh). Anyway, I have not written an author before, but I felt compelled to tell you how much my wife and I and a growing number of friends really enjoy your work. Mahalo from Hawaii, Terry Revere