I have just finished reading The Fort, which I thoroughly enjoyed. Immediately before that I read Anthony Beevor’s D Day and the consistent themes of prickly characters and inflated egos are frighteningly apparent (I speak as an ex-soldier). What prompted me to write though was a small coincidence. In your notes at the end of the book you refer to the fact that you now live in Chatham. I started reading The Fort beside the swimming pool at the Chatham Bars Inn a couple of days after Irene passed through. I can see exactly why you live there, a lovely part of the world. Thank you for a “ripping read” JF