Hello Mr Cornwell,
I’ve been in contact with you before; you may remember that I am the American in New Zealand who was writing a nonfiction book on leadership. You were a great help to assist me to get underway and back my vision. Greatly appreciated.
But that is not the point of this message. Earlier this year, I did a bicycle trip around the US for several months. At the end of each day I was too tired to do anything except set up camp, eat, and sleep. I wanted to challenge my mind a bit more and about 4 weeks from the end of my riding, I found a used bookshop selling (lightweight) copies of Sharpe’s Tiger and Rifles. From that point on, I was able to read a chapter or so each evening — instead of falling asleep after a paragraph of any other written source.
Returning to NZ, I decided to re-read the entire series again (3rd time). I’m up to Sharpe’s Prey now. And I am enjoying them as much as ever. That’s not my reason to write though. As an ex-military academy grad, long-time infantry and special operations officer (active and reserves), I continue to marvel at how simply you KNOW leadership. Whether you throw out a one line exchange between an NCO and Ensign Sharpe, how Wellington inspires officers with his plan and troops by his example, or describing men in battle accomplishing the impossible, you instinctively nail the minutiae of interactions that make these things happen.
I don’t know (or care) how you do it. But book after book, chapter after chapter, and page after page, I am just in awe.
And that is not even to add in the fact that the stories are just plain marvelous as well.
Enough said.
Again, thanks. And I look forward after getting up through Sharpe’s Waterloo and reading Sharpe’s Assassin for the first time.
Cheers, Dave Evans
Sorry, will add a PS. Back in NZ, I finally chose to watch the ITV Sharpe series for the first time. Despite it being TV/ limited budget/ size and some extra changes from the screenwriters, Bean and O’Malley along with virtually all the other cast members, capture the spirit and atmosphere of the man, his times, and that hard to quantify term, leadership. Very well done!