I read your Arthur series and loved the attention to detail and the affinity it gave me to the past. But as an Englishwoman, I spent the whole time reading it wishing that somebody would write something from the perspective of the Anglo-Saxons, something that told of their culture and their history. And then I found The Last Kingdom which I finished today, and it was everything I ever hoped to read. I’m reading it alongside the Anglo-Saxon Chronicles and immersing myself in the history of my ancestors. It’s an education and a pleasure. I really feel the desperation and the feelings of a culture ‘in exile’ in this book, and I was wondering whether this book and some of your past works are a result of living abroad. Are you able to see Britain and it’s history and people more ‘clearly’ now that you are away or is that not a factor at all? Apologies for this rambling e-mail, which is just a long winded way of saying ‘thank you’ for giving me so much pleasure with your books. Rebecca Boorman