Dear Mr Cornwell

I wondered if your forum readers are aware that it is now possible to rent part of Hougoumont Farm, courtesy of the Landmark Trust who have refurbished the gardener’s cottage in period style as part of “Project Hougoumont”. I had the absolute privilege of  staying there last week on my first visit to the Waterloo battlefield. I can’t tell you how deeply moving it was to be there.

I eventually arrived at Waterloo as a direct result of having started reading your “Sharpe” books four years ago when my husband and I bought a house situated on the site of the Barrosa battlefield. A search of the internet revealed “Sharpe’s Fury” as the top reference for more information, and I went on from there. So thank you most sincerely for opening up to me a wonderful and moving period of British and European history which I had previously just skimmed over.

In terms of how much I enjoy your books – just let me say that no matter how many times I read “Sharpe’s Siege” (my favourite) I’m still not sure that those Riflemen and Marines really are going make it on to that escape ship at the end …

Forgive me is this has already been discussed on the forum, but now that the Waterloo battlefield museums have been upgraded and Project Hougoumont has been completed, it is an outstanding experience and I cannot  recommend it highly enough. The multi-media presentations at both Butte du Lion and Hougoumont are simply amazing. However visitors should be prepared for something of a bias towards Napoleon and the French – the official guide at Butte du Lion included gems such as (quote) “This shows the Battle of Trafalgar where the Spanish fleet was destroyed”, and “This shows the Prince Regent of Great Britain. The British were present at Waterloo”. Bless.

Kindest regards, and thanks again.

Christine