Dear Bernard, I was fortunate enough to come and see you talk in Chelmsford and wanted to say how much I enjoyed it! Thank you for visiting. I found your advice to young authors most helpful. Having guessed your love of all things French I would like to suggest typing ‘French military victories’ into Google. If you press on the first link (I think) where it says ‘does not match any documents’ you are treated to a funny chronology of all French defeats. Well worth a look. Martyn Platt