Dear Mr. Cornwell, In the appendix to Azincourt you deal a bit with the historical question of the longbow, specifically “why then”, and let me add “why not there”. 1. It required 10 years of training, from small age. 2. The technology was not new. 3. You ruled out Welsh wars. You left it as a “fad”, or as “nevermind”. I find this point intriguing. A fad is something which has immediate reward, not something you build your body for during a decade. And if indeed this was a British fad, and it only took 10 years to raise such an army of archers, why did France hire hated English archers, and not raise her own? Why did they not even start? Instead, they invested in the crossbow – powerful, but takes a long time to cock. Furthermore – England was not even the place for the best yew wood. The best yew wood came from warmer places such as Italy. I bet that in the south of France you could find the same quality of wood, except it was probably not imported from there to England. The Assize of Arms of 1252 demands that all men of age carry a weapon, at least a bow. This may explain why even peasants knew how to use a bow, but it does not explain why they chose to use a bow so difficult to make (a self bow) and wield. I suggest that the difference between England and other countries is that in other countries, the lord demanded money or crops from the feudals, whereas in militant England, the feudals were required to supply an army. This gave the common English man a chance to change the life circumstances into which he was born. You recorded that several archers became lords. They also became legends to the archers: every country man would know these stories, every one would dream of these stories, with the same charm that America held for people of the old world – the chance for a change. The feudals would wish to do beyond the call of the law, in order to excel and be taken to the army, and by that improve their own status. During the time gap between 1252 and around 1350 the yeomen built their aspirations, especially during the turmoil before the Hundred Years War. Then, at Crécy, the potent expectations finally came to pass. Sincerely yours, Orna.