Dear Bernard Cornwell, With your interest in sailing and in history, I wonder if you have ever come across a charming little book called A Biographical Tribute to the Memory of Trim, by Matthew Flinders? Yes, the Matthew Flinders who circumnavigated Australia and mapped much of its coastline. It is really an essay, written while a prisoner of the French on Mauritius, about his cat. Trim circumnavigated the globe with Flinders, assisted in mapping the Australian coastline, was shipwrecked with him and helped to keep down the rat population on Flinders various ships. It is a whimsical and light-hearted essay, but obviously written with great affection, after Trims untimely death. It also provides an interesting insight into life on board a naval vessel around 1800. I was surprised at the apparent affection the sailors and officers had for the cat, a human touch in the privations, even brutality, of life on board. Highly recommended. Elizabeth Smith. PS The English cricket team could do with Rider Sandman!