It seems to me that in the books written after the successful TV films, Sharpe changed and became the character as played by Sean Bean. Were you conscious of this and was it deliberate? As a consequence, do you think that you can still read the total series in historical sequence and not be a little confused by the changes in Sharpe’s character and past? Simon Hoggett

Dear Mr Cornwell, Firstly, I’d like to congratulate you on the excellent Sharpe series, to which I have become hopelessy addicted over the last few months. I’m curious to find out whether the way that you see the character of Sharpe has been at all influenced in your later works by Sean Bean’s portrayal of him in the TV films. Because I saw the films before reading the books, I always tend to imagine Sharpe looking like Sean – despite the fact that your descriptions of him differ in some ways. Has he changed at all in your imagination? Mark Stokes

I am another devotee of ‘Sharpe’!! having read all the books in chronological order so was able to follow the rise of Richard from Ranker to Major!! The last one being ‘Sharpes Escape’ also I have all 14 DVD’s. At the moment I am reading ‘Marching with Sharpe’ by BJ Bluth which I can recommend to all your readers. My question is:- Were you pleased with the choice of the excellent Sean Bean to play Sharpe? Was that how you envisaged him? Thank you so much for giving me so much pleasure, and of course I am looking forward to the next episode! Yours Mike Southport Merseyside.