Hi Mr. Cornwell. I have just finished Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s wonderful 18 short stories of his Napoleonic hero, Brigadier Eitenne Gerard. Apart from Sharpe, they are among the best Napoleonic literature I have ever come across. I noticed some parallels with Sharpe’s adventures; he temporarily joins forces with the English to capture a notorious brigand (like in Enemy), and makes a voyage to St. Helena (like in Devil). I wonder, did these stories influence you at all, either in thinking up the career of Sharpe or later as you were adding his adventures? I would love to see a cameo appearance of Gerard in a future Sharpe novel. Is it any easier to work through the legalities of this since Conan Doyle has been dead for 77 years? Alan Kempner