Hello Bernard, many thanks for the answers you put up to the questions we all have for you. It makes interesting reading and gives us almost a ‘behind the scenes’ snap-shot of the books, characters and yourself. I have a couple more questions for you regarding Sharpe and Wellington; Firstly, was it your intention from day one to link Sharpe’s progress with that of Wellington? Perhaps you identified the missing 2 minutes at Assaye in your research and made the connection from there? Or did that come later?

Secondly, there are many differing accounts to the Battle of Waterloo and how important or not the Prussians were in the course of the day. Your own account pays little credit to the Prussians having a major effect on the outcome, and yet others dispute this with an earlier and more significant arrival on the battlefield. Being an Englishman, I would like to think our allied forces held sway in the Battlefield before the Prussians came to our aid! Did they really save the day, or was the damage already done to Bonaparte before their arrival? Thanks as always, Dean Tams.