Dear Mr Cornwell,
I have often thought of writing to thank you for the joy your books have given me throughout my life. I was however finally pushed over the edge by seeing your Apology when I looked on your website to find out when my next fix would be delivered. I am very sorry to hear what a difficult year 2024 was for you and your family and I wish you all the best and a speedy recovery. I would be delighted if the ramblings of this huge fan might be a small reminder of what pleasure your work has given to so many over the years. So fortified with a bottle of red, here goes…
I first picked up a copy of Sharpe’s Gold in 1986 (aged 12) and was instantly smitten. Indeed the Sharpe series got this rather lazy undergraduate through his history degree. Sitting in my modern European history paper facing the awful truth that I simply hadn’t done the requisite revision, I suddenly realised that I had all the knowledge I needed to answer a question of British foreign policy in the early 19th century purely from Sharpe’s adventures! Your Last Kingdom series then brought to life all the hours of Anglo-Saxon history I had studied (and largely forgotten) for my specialist subject at university. I recently re read the entire series and enjoyed them even more. Where most children were read the famous five at bed time, mine were reared on the Winter King and Harlequin series. I now have three more keen historians and Cornwell fans.
Like so many others who have written to you, I would love to know what became of Starbuck or indeed how Lasan got the scars that obviously so impressed Sally Truslow! However, whatever you write next, you can rest assured that (whatever work commitments may exist) my diary will be cleared to sit down and devour your latest offering.
Thank you for awakening and driving a lifelong passion for history, thank you for bringing history to life and thank you for making the daily commute exciting.
Yours sincerely,
Giles