Hello Bernard. Despite being a proud Lancastrian I have found myself on the wrong side of the Pennines and I now live just outside Keighley in West Yorkshire. I was talking to a friend recently who, like me, is a huge fan of yours. He is convinced that Richard Sharpe is based on a highly decorated Keighley soldier called Christopher Ingham who was a member of the 95th Rifles Regiment and fought against the French in Spain, France and Belgium (including the Battle of Waterloo). I disagreed with him at the time but on reflection Sharpe flees to Yorkshire as a youth and the TV show Sharpe’s Justice is set in Keighley, so perhaps there is some truth in what my friend says! Forgive me for asking, as I am sure you have been asked this countless times, but is Sharpe loosely based on a real person?

James Moss