Hi Bernard I just got done reading an old copy of Wildtrack – and I loved it! I also loved A Crowning Mercy and I am looking forward to the french revolution companion piece. Any chance of rereleasing more sailing mysteries? One theme that I detect throughout your work is that lawyers and priests lurk in the slimey corners of life. I love it when you depict a scheming lawyer or cardinal. I am constantly reminded of Nietzsche when I read your work. I am also fascinated about the way that religion enters into your characters lives. Derfel worships Mithras, a god that understands the ways of warriors. Campion finds a god that understands love and tolerance. Starbuck is haunted by the religion of his father, but he seems to have instinctively replaced religion with the way of the warrior. Sharpe is not haunted, he is an orphan, like most of your characters, and he couldn’t give a rat’s ass for religion. But I think that he would enjoy the worship of Mithras. Would you say that your work is about trying to find humane ways of being and living that celebrate warrior virtues? If that is close o the mark, what experiences or books inspired you to think this way? I like philosophy so I tend to think that way when I read books that engage me as all of yours have, many times over. James