Dear Bernard: My name is Tomás. I´m a writer and illustrator from Salamanca (Spain), the city that you described so nicely in your Sharpe’s series. I get involved in the investigation of the battle of Salamanca (known here as the battle of Arapiles) when I was writing a book about legends of the city (the classical mix of miracle stories, witchcraft facts and ancient celebrity deaths). I liked a lot your amazing vision of the Plaza Mayor: a monument to civilian life, not military, not clerical, not aristocratic. Believe me, each time I cross the square, I remember your words about it. Even in certain misty mornings, it is easy for me to imagine the troops wandering by drinking wine and eating hot tripes (we call it “callos”. Have you tasted them?) As you can see, your book about Sharpe in Salamanca influenced my point of view about my city’s past. From Sharpe I jumped into Stonehenge and then into your Arthurian saga. This is what I want to talk about. I have been an enthusiast of the round table themes from my childhood. Years ago, the role play game “Pendragon” was translated and published in Spain. My friends and I played a lot and became familiar with many topics of the saga. The more we played, higher was our will to add realism to the broth. And we worked in a line poorer than yours, but (believe me) very close. Of course, our geography was pure invention, but the mood was very alike (magic or trickery, passions and vengeance, religion wars, demythologization…) I devoured the three books with passion and enjoyed them in a very special way. The way I enjoyed books years ago: with a heartbeat in some scenes (Dian’s death, per example). Awesome scenes, intelligence in each line, powerful characters and always a loose rope that make you keep reading. I have learned another lesson from you: the way your “atrezzo” echoes in the feelings of the characters is very, very effective and clever. Congratulations and thank you very, very much for your books. I only want to apologize for the length and my poor english. And of course, you have a friend here in Salamanca that will invite you to wine, callos and legends whenever you want. Sincerely, with my higher admiration, Tomás Hijo