Dear Mr. Cornwell, I first discovered Richard Sharpe in my mid-teens and I am happy to say that he was my devoted companion throughout school and university. A short while after graduating I went to work overseas. Richard came with me of course, but by then I had been introduced to Nathaniel Starbuck at a party and I had also come across Arthur during a leisurely browse in Hay-on-Wye. The four of us journeyed together for many happy years, occasionally meeting new friends on our travels, until eventually I returned to the UK, married a Northumbrian and moved into the village of Edington in Wiltshire. After so many happy years in the company of such gallant men how could I have known that the best was yet to come? I met Uhtred in Swindon in 2004 and since then we have spent many unforgettable hours together on the downs reliving the glorious days of Wessex. A few months ago I even took my husband and daughters up to the white horse to read aloud to them the final chapters of ‘The Pale Horseman’ so that they, like me, could look towards Chippenham and imagine how it must have looked to Alfred and the men of Wessex – the sight of that vast Danish army marching across the plain to fight that decisive battle on our very doorstep. I have been reading and loving your books for so many years and I just want to say thank you. Thank you for writing, thank you for making history come alive, but most of all thank you for creating my heroes. I couldn’t love them more! Best wishes, Carina Wiltshire