Mr. Cornwell, It’s really hard for me, a 40 year old cop, not to gush when I correspond with someone such as yourself. Suffice it to say, I have read with great satisfaction most of your novels, especially the Grail Quest series. I must also say that Azincourt was an incredible novel. The characters and personalities depicted in your work are vivid, colorful and easily imagined. My eyes ache in a jealous way when I think of the hours of research you must do to add detail and authenticity. I spent two weeks at a traditional blade-smithing school in Arkansas. We had coal fired forges, hammers, anvil and steel to bang about into what hopefully resembled knife blades. One of the instructors was an English gentleman named Jim Jackson. Mr. Jackson had recently retired as the Armorer to the Queen of England after forty or so years, and was an amazing artisan. Loving all things medieval (excepting the plagues, disease, and violent death aspects of the age), we spent many an hour talking about armor manufacture, etc. We talked very specifically about shield construction. Unfortunately, Mr. Jackson had little to do with those at the museum. I’ve searched high and low for a treatise or book about this equipment and have come up luckless. I did see an episode of Weapons that Made Britain starring Mike Loades featuring nothing but shield design and construction. Could you recommend a book or reference about this? Any help you could offer would be greatly appreciated. And, as a side note, my son gets his first longbow on his 4th birthday. Thank you for sharing your talent, and please keep writing. Sincerely and Respectfully, Jeffery Rackliff