Dear Mr. Cornwell, I first want to thank you for your amazing novels. I am fond of all of them especially the Arthur books. I also want to thank you for being so reponsive to your fans. You are a rare author that returns comments to your fans at such a consistant rate. My questions regards the recent Saxon novels and of ancient british warfare. It is mostly concerning the shield wall. It seems in your books, that the battles are controlled by who is the bravest to march their shield wall first. Did generalship diminish after the Romans left, because it seems that battle tactics are not used anymore. I was expecting some cleverness on the battlefield from Alfred because of the mention of his skill at the ancient game of chess. I know there were no military geniuses such as Hannibal or Alexander or that I’m not aware of, but still some leader had to have had some cleverness and wit on the battlefield. What happened to battle tactics in ancient Britain? Thanks Eric.