Dear Mr. Cornwell;

I love these Sharpe books!  I have been obsessed with them ever since buying “Sharpe’s Rifles” on a whim at the bargain price of $1.99 in the Kindle edition on January 14th.  Since then I have read nothing but Sharpe, and am now deep into “Sharpe’s Havoc,” and at my current rate assume I will not be able to read anything else until I have finished the series, such is my addiction.

P.G. Wodehouse wrote something terrifically funny about how one of the worst things an author can see is a letter that starts out “Dear Sir; Are you aware that…?  Well, this is one of those, I’m sorry to say.  But it is pretty silly of me, since I read somewhere you have written a million words about Sharpe, so perfection is not to be anticipated.  But I am a lawyer with an eye for detail, and a few days ago I read the short story “Sharpe’s Skirmish,” and shortly before the charge of the French Dragoons across the bridge, one of his men asks Sharpe if he was familiar with caltrops, and Sharpe says he is not.  They then break all the wine bottles on the bridge to stop the Dragoon charge and the pieces of glass work as makeshift caltrops.  This rather ignores the fact that, in “Sharpe’s Rifles,” when Sharpe and Major Rivas are defending Santiago de Compostela from the French, they rely upon caltrops to avert a cavalry charge.  I probably would not have noticed except I am reading these books voraciously back to back.

Anyway, I have ordered all the Sharpe TV series available from Netflix, and will expand my Sharpe experience at that time.  Also, in several places you hint that you may not be done with Sharpe.  You have apparently not published anything significant about Sharpe since 2007, is there still an expectation that you will find further mischief for him?  I hope so, 22 novels will clearly not be enough for me, given my obsession.  Thanks again for bringing Sharpe, and the history of the Napoleonic Wars, to life.  My father was a professor of Slavic History and I have always been a history buff, so I especially love exciting novels that also teach me about history.  For instance, I knew nothing of the shameful bombardment of Copenhagen in 1807, and it surprises me that this act had previously escaped my notice.  So you are providing entertainment and education at the same time, my favorite.

Chase Kimball