Dear Mr. Cornwell.
I have been marching with Sharpe and Harper for some time now and, being Irish (though living in New York) feel perfectly in lockstep with both of them. It’s interesting that you paired those sometimes at odds neighbors but, as you know I’m sure, you are not alone in doing so. Patrick O’Brian’s Aubrey and Maturin come immediately to mind, and while Harry Sidebottom’s Marcus Clodius Ballista is no Englishman he is an Angle and his pal is Maximus the Hibernian. More than one Anglo/Irish Agreement in the literary firmament then. By the by, not sure what to do when I reach the end of the Sharpe series. Will have to read them all over again I guess. And more slowly. Thank you for your literary gifts. Best,
Ray O’Hanlon