Hi Mr Cornwell
First off, I grew up watching the Sharpe TV series and absolutely loved it as a kid, not learning until about a year ago that it was based on a book series.
I’ve never been a great reader of novels or fiction, but about a year ago I decided I wanted to learn a little history about colonial India and somewhere along the line I came across the Sharpe books. I think I’m now addicted; it’s actually interfering with my sleep because I struggle to put it down. So thank you for a great work of art and entertainment.
I do, however, have a question which I feel a little foolish for asking: in Sharpe’s Tiger, when Lawford and Sharpe are improsoned after being found out for spying, Lawford produces a single page of the Bible after his pocket copy is taken away and it is suggested that both Sharpe and Lawford knew that that could be for only one thing. I am at a complete loss what a single page of the Bible might be for.
Is it to be used as a cigarette; or perhaps Lawford feels less Christian and more guilty without it; or perhaps to teach Sharpe to read; or to clean a musket.
Please shed some light, because I feel like I’ve completely missed something which has been suggested in the story.
Regards
Aal-E-Ahmad