Mr. Cornwell,
I fist stumbled upon the first few books of the Sharpe series in the late 1980s and snapped them up. Since then I have collected the entire series, including the short stories, as well as all the Saxon Tales and Grail Quest series. I have a few others. I teach history at a community college and from time to time students come to me looking for a lighter read than standard non-fiction for a time period. Your series are among those of less than a half-dozen authors I recommend to my students. I’ve never had a dissatisfied referral…
My other reason for writing is a historical accuracy error I discovered in your new “1356” novel… On page 70, Thomas is at the papal palace in Avignon, in dialogue with the painter. The painter mentions there are two popes, one in Avignon and one in Rome… I read that passage three times, asking myself, “why does that not sound right?” Finally, I looked it up. The Great Western Schism began with the antipope election of Clement VII by the defecting French cardinals in 1378, more than 20 years after this novel’s action takes place.
Please, this is not intended as a “gotcha”, but an acknowledgement of the depth of detail that has to be checked and rechecked and checked again. Frankly, I’m surprised historical writers don’t make MORE errors…
Again, my thanks to you for several incredible series. I look forward to what else with which you will delight us.
Sincerely,
Brian Croteau