Dear Bernard, Thanks a lot for The Sharpe books.How did you get the feelings of a man going into action so perfect? I was a member of a unit of men who are rated by the rest of the world as the best.The 95 rifles was the equivalent in those days,selected and trained to think and act as individuals and in teams. Every one is frightend in action,but well trained and experienced men have the same reactions that you describe. You enter a hype feeling that seems to slow the action down while your reactions speed up and it almost becomes enjoyable.The fear disappears till the action is over. Sharpe then reaches for a bottle to unwind,personally it was a cigarette. I like the way you tell the truth about history,good and bad on both sides, not rewriting history for poetic liscence as they glibbly put it. For example “braveheart” who actually was Robert the Bruce and not William Wallace.Both were Norman and not Scottish. They both were opposed by Normans and not the English. Thanks for the Sharpe series. Alan