Mr. Cornwell, Thank you for replying to my last letter. ‘You’re a story-teller, so start telling a story’ was a great bit of advice. It may seem obvious- but it is very inspiring- I’ve now propped your quote above my computer to remind me. As always, I have a few questions..
1. I was wondering if you were familiar with Orwell’s Homage to Catalonia- about his time spent fighting in the militia during the Spanish Civil War. I found the account very gripping and I wondered what your thoughts, if any, were on the subject.

2. I noticed in Sharpe’s Waterloo that he is using a battered old sea captain’s spyglass instead of the telescope Wellington gave him for his service in India. I think you mention him losing it in Toulouse. It may seem minor, but the telescope- alongside the green jacket, the baker rifle and the heavy cavalry blade- seemed to me a unique identifier of the character- like Holmes’ pipe and deerstalker hat. Will you consider having Sharpe retrieve it? Or at least tell the story of how it came to be lost?

3. C.S. Forester states in the Hornblower Companion that ‘after Waterloo a large number of Napoleon’s Old Guard had organized themselves into an association that had seized, and attempted to colonize, an area of Texas, at a time when Texas was still part of Mexico and Mexico was still fighting for her independence’ Have you ever thought about bringing Sharpe into this somewhat dimmer corner of history? As others have pointed out- this technically keeps Sharpe’s vow never to fight against America intact.

4. You mentioned in an interview in Paperback Parade #64 that you were a fan of the Richard Stark Parker novels- that they ‘fill you with envy’. I wonder if they have had any deeper influence on your Sharpe books? They seem similar, in that you never know too much about the character, and every story is largely self-contained. What do you think the qualities a character in an ongoing cycle of stories must have to maintain this kind of integrity? I ask because this seems to be one of your greatest strengths as a storyteller- not to use one of your books as a crutch for another to lean on. None of your books read like sequels and I think that’s a very enviable quality.

5. Lastly, have you ever read Candice Millard’s River of Doubt? If not, may I recommend it? It is the true story of Theodore Roosevelt’s journey into the Amazon after losing the 1912 election. He battles cannibal tribes, flesh-eating bacteria and a thousand other perils to trace an uncharted river- it’s a riveting account of a little wrinkle of history that seems to have been forgotten. Anyway, thanks again for taking the time to read my questions&again, congratulations on the OBE, best of luck with the play and I can’t wait for the Fury R. Kulb