Dear Mr. Cornwell, I know that the LAST THING you need to hear from another devoted reader is a suggestion about another book, but I wonder if you might consider the ultimate prequel to the Sharpe series. It seems to me that Richard has quite a story to tell from his days in the orphanage, the rookery and with Maggie Joyce and your favourite Sargent (and villain) Obadiah Hakeswell as his recruiter. We know that Sharpe murdered the man who attempted to kill Maggie and that Sharpe ran to the Army as an escape… right into Hakeswell’s clutches. Sounds like a winner to me. I have thoroughly enjoyed all of your books (The Fort was #40 in my Bernard Cornwell collection!!!) so hope to have #41 to look forward to soon. (… and it goes without saying that I will buy whatever you release, so you can probably ignore my suggestion after all… but wouldn’t a Sharpe novel be just the ticket right now?) Thank you for your time, your books and allowing all of us to enjoy your great talents. Sincerely, Paul Higgins. Bowmanville, Ontario, Canada.