Dear Mr. Cornwell, I just finished The Fort, and enjoyed it immensely! I do have one small complaint/request, however. In your introductory note, you explained a clever literary convention wherein all the fictional characters would have surnames starting with a certain letter. I found this strangely distracting as I read the book. Each time a new character was introduced, a mental stop sign went up until I classified them as historical or fictional, then resumed reading.. I normally get absorbed in your storytelling, but this seemed to reduce my suspension of disbelief that the story could actually have happened as written. Don’t get me wrong, I like the convention, but in future books, would you consider moving the explanation to the notes at the end of the book, so as not to distract from the first reading? As ever, eagerly awaiting your next tale, Stan Oakley, MD