Dear Bernard,

I’m so excited BBC will make “The Last Kingdom” into a TV series and hope it will outshine History Channel’s “Vikings”. I also hope your Hundred Year’s war stories will make it onto TV. After finishing “Azincourt”, I’m left wondering what Hook’s bow poundage is. At one point he strung the bow while on horseback using his stirrups … no small feat if the bow is over 100 pounds. What is his bow’s poundage, and how long is his bow (considering the rule-of-thumb of a man’s height plus one fist)? I’m interested because I have just finished my first (long)bow with cow-horn nocks, which is hard to string even at 50 pounds (though I admit it gets easier with practice).

All the best,

René, The Netherlands