Dear Bernard, I hope this email finds you well and in good spirits. I’m sure you are very busy, so will keep it short. I just wanted to thank you for all the great books you have written over the years. I have been a big fan of the Sharpe series (and all the others!) since being a small boy, I’m now 27. We met once, many years ago in Manchester, while you were promoting Trafalgar. The copy that you kindly signed for me that day is one of my most treasured possessions. I owe you a great deal. Your books opened a whole new world for me – history! If it wasn’t for your fantastically written, researched, and above all, accessible, novels, I don’t think I would have been inspired to go to university to read for a history degree. I am now in my first year as a PhD student where I am researching the experiences of the post-war British Army in developing tactical nuclear weapons. As I sit here in my flat in Liverpool, looking at all of your books on my shelf, it has become clear how large and positive an impact your work has had on my life. So thank you, and I look forward to reading lots more of your novels in the future. Kind regards, Simon Moody