Hi, I’ve just finished reading The Last Kingdom and, like all of your books, couldn’t put it down. As a Primary School teacher teaching Saxons and Vikings to Year 3 children, I felt even more inspired to make the period come alive for them. Especially as we are deep in the heart of the old Northumbrain kingdom and not too far from York! I am always amazed at how authentic you make such periods of history appear and am in awe of how much research you must put into them. Do you do your research in America or England? The only series of books I have not read are the Sharpe Chronicles. This is mainly because I saw them on television and often find it difficult to read the story after the fact. Do you think that Sean Bean and Pete Postlethwaite were true to your characters? To a non reader of the series they were magnificent, but this may not be as you viewed them yourself of course. Keep up the stirling work and I have been on your recommended reading list to keep me occupied until the release date of the sequel to The Last Kingdom. Lynn, Yorkshire