Dear Bernard, first allow me to wish you a very merry christmas and a happy new year. Second in regards to your Sharpe novels in Sharpe’s Eagle it’s mentioned that Simmerson is actually a cousin of Banastre Tarleton. Have you ever considered having Sharpe meet him, different war I know but both are quite a pair of characters?? And In Lawrence James book on Wellington it does mention that after Busacco he went from an opponent of the war and Wellington and became quite complimentary of both instead. Besides what did he do to deserve having Simmerson as a cousin?? The next question slightly leads on from the last but have you ever thought of writing about Tarleton and the American Revolution? The Patriot was an awful film and I think your books could more than set the record straight. And finally if you are looking for some good books to read over xmas I can recommend John Saddler’s Border Fury on the Border wars between Scotland and England and David Miller’s military biography on, Richard the Lionheart the Mighty Crusader. He paints an interesting argument that it was Richard who first invented the thin red line and a strange friendship that prospered between him and his foe Saladin. all the best Tony