Hello Mr. Cornwell, Being an artist of still life paintings, I have lots of spare time for reading. I was introduced to Nathaniel Starbuck about a year ago by a dear friend. I have read all of that series as well as the Archer’s series, the Warlord Chronicles, Redcoat, Gallows Thief and Stonehenge. I hope that your vacation you took from the profits from my purchase was enjoyable. I jest because I do find your novels entertaining. I am now in the process of reading the Sharpe series, in chronological order. I shudder to think what I shall be reading when I finish. While reading your novels and following current events, I don’t find it surprising how little mankind has changed. Yes, the technologies of warfare has changed but, the baseline of human nature is the same. I sure it will change little in the next thousand years. Probably like a lot of your fans, I have a family history that I can easily relate to the stories within your novels. My surname Waterman, being Anglo-Saxon, is obvious. So, the novels about the old country , I find interesting as a perspective view of the beings of English culture and my roots. On a more personal note, I have more knowledge and a better understanding of my family’s history, in Redcoat and the Starbuck Chronicles. Robert Waterman arrived in Massachusetts is 1629. At Valley Forge there are two monuments, one is for Lieutenant John Waterman, I therefore found Redcoat most interesting. Having relations who served on both sides of the American Civil War, the Starbuck Chronicles proved enlightening. In closing, I thank you. John C. Waterman