How do you square the (apparent) death of Hakeswill in the snakepit and his “reappearance” in Spain/Portugal in an earlier (though historically later) book? might be difficult to track the multitude of characters after decades of writing. Dave

Dear Mr Cornwell, What exactly did happen to Obadiah Hakeswill after he was pushed into the snake pit at Gawilghur? We hear about his escape from the gallows, his invulnerability towards the musket bullets of friend and foe alike, his lucky survival from the tigers and his escape from being crushed by an elephant. Did you purposely leave the escape from the snakes to the readers’ imagination, adding to the legend that was Obadiah?! Toby