Mr Cornwell, firstly, I have to thank you for the wonderful books that have given me so much pleasure over the years. Although I dearly love Sharpe, my absolute favourites are the Saxon stories. Like you, I am from ‘South Essex’, Caninga, to be precise, and I can remember sitting on the sea wall as an army-mad boy and trying to plan an assault up the slopes to ‘Beamfleot’. As a result, and perhaps unsurprisingly, Sword Song ranks among my favourite stories. I also like to write, but have only managed a short story about WWII. The main reason for my laziness in writing is my love of reading! That leads me nicely to my questions: Do you like to read? Which author(s) do you prefer and what subjects provide you with your reading pleasure? Again, Thanks. Mark