Mr Cornwell, I should like to flatter you regarding the Sharpe books that I have read but I fear you get that all the time – but I do enjoy them and on the strength of that will look at your other series. My query relates to a one-liner you dropped in Sharpe’s Trafalgar. When the Pucelle joins the British fleet off Trafalgar and you “call the roll”, you mention that the Bellerophon was constructed at a cost of £30,232 14s 3d. This number is of interest to me as, for a work related research project (Australian Department of Defence), a colleague and myself are looking at the cost of military equipment over very long time periods. My colleague is concentrating on seagoing vessels, armour, and other mechanised equipment while I have been concentrating on aircraft, small arms and radios. In the small arms field I have managed to find prices for small arms (British) as far back as 1573. I also did the research for older vessels but only managed to get back to 1848. I would appreciate it if you could take the time to let me know where you found this price or alternatively if it is fictional. Cheers Alan Scheckenbach