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Bernard Cornwell Bernard Cornwell (born 23 February 1944) is an English author of historical novels and a history of the Waterloo Campaign. He is best known for his long-running series of novels about Napoleonic Wars rifleman Richard Sharpe. He has also writ ...
's career started in 1981 with ''
Sharpe's Eagle ''Sharpe's Eagle'' is a historical novel in the Richard Sharpe series by Bernard Cornwell, first published in 1981. The story is set in July 1809, in the midst of the Talavera Campaign during the Peninsular War. It was the first Sharpe novel ...
''. He has been a prolific historical novelist since then, having published more than 60 novels.


Novel series


The Sharpe stories

Cornwell's best known books feature the adventures of Richard Sharpe, a British soldier during the Napoleonic Wars. The first 11 books of the Sharpe series (beginning in chronological order with ''Sharpe's Rifles'' and ending with ''Sharpe's Waterloo'', published in the US as ''Waterloo'') detail Sharpe's adventures in various
Peninsular War The Peninsular War (1808–1814) was fought in the Iberian Peninsula by Kingdom of Portugal, Portugal, Spain and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, United Kingdom against the invading and occupying forces of the First French ...
campaigns over the course of 6–7 years. Subsequently, Cornwell wrote a prequel quintet – ''Sharpe's Tiger'', ''Sharpe's Triumph'', ''Sharpe's Fortress'', ''Sharpe's Trafalgar'' and ''Sharpe's Prey'' – depicting Sharpe's adventures under Wellington's command in
India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...
, including his hard-won promotion to the officer corps, his return to Britain and his arrival in the 95th Rifles, and a sequel, ''Sharpe's Devil'', set six years after the end of the wars. He also wrote ''
Sharpe's Battle ''Sharpe's Battle'' is the twelfth historical novel in the Sharpe (novel series), Richard Sharpe series by Bernard Cornwell, first published in 1995. The story is set during the Peninsular War in Spain in 1811. Plot summary While lost near th ...
'', a novel "inserted" into his previous continuity, taking place during the
Battle of Fuentes de Oñoro At the Battle of Fuentes de Oñoro (3–5 May 1811), the Anglo-Portuguese Army under Wellington checked an attempt by the French Army of Portugal under Marshal André Masséna to relieve the besieged city of Almeida. A bloody stalemate ...
. It has been asserted nattributedthat Cornwell was initially dubious about the casting of Sean Bean for the television adaptations. However, Cornwell effectively scotches this assertion in an interview with the "CompleatSeanBean" website. Indeed, Cornwell states in the same interview that he "was utterly delighted that it was to be Sean Bean". Cornwell also dedicated ''Sharpe's Battle'' to Sean Bean, and has admitted that he subtly changed the writing of the character to align with Bean's portrayal. Since 2003, he has written further "missing adventures" set during the "classic" Peninsular War era. The following is the correct 'historical' order, although they are all standalone stories:


The Starbuck Chronicles

A tetralogy set during the
American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861May 26, 1865; also known by Names of the American Civil War, other names) was a civil war in the United States between the Union (American Civil War), Union ("the North") and the Confederate States of A ...
. The title character, Nathaniel Starbuck, is a Northerner who has decided to fight for the
South South is one of the cardinal directions or compass points. The direction is the opposite of north and is perpendicular to both west and east. Etymology The word ''south'' comes from Old English ''sūþ'', from earlier Proto-Germanic ''*sunþa ...
in a Virginian regiment, the Faulconer Legion. The last novel to date in the series has been ''The Bloody Ground'', taking place during the Antietam Campaign. Cornwell has said that he plans to write more Starbuck novels, but has not done so yet.


The Warlord Chronicles

A trilogy depicting Cornwell's historical re-creation of
Arthurian According to legends, King Arthur (; ; ; ) was a king of Britain. He is a folk hero and a central figure in the medieval literary tradition known as the Matter of Britain. In Welsh sources, Arthur is portrayed as a leader of the post-Ro ...
Britain Britain most often refers to: * Great Britain, a large island comprising the countries of England, Scotland and Wales * The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, a sovereign state in Europe comprising Great Britain and the north-eas ...
. The series posits that Post-Roman Britain was a difficult time for the native Britons, being threatened by invasion from the Anglo-Saxons in the East and raids from the Irish in the West. At the same time, they suffered internal power struggles between their petty kingdoms and friction between the old Druidic religion and newly arrived Christianity.


The Grail Quest novels

A series that deals with a mid-14th century search for the
Holy Grail The Holy Grail (, , , ) is a treasure that serves as an important motif in Arthurian literature. Various traditions describe the Holy Grail as a cup, dish, or stone with miraculous healing powers, sometimes providing eternal youth or sustenanc ...
during the
Hundred Years' War The Hundred Years' War (; 1337–1453) was a conflict between the kingdoms of Kingdom of England, England and Kingdom of France, France and a civil war in France during the Late Middle Ages. It emerged from feudal disputes over the Duchy ...
. An English
archer Archery is the sport, practice, or skill of using a bow to shoot arrows.Paterson ''Encyclopaedia of Archery'' p. 17 The word comes from the Latin ''arcus'', meaning bow. Historically, archery has been used for hunting and combat. In modern ...
, Thomas of Hookton, becomes drawn into the quest by the actions of a mercenary soldier called "The Harlequin," who murders Thomas's family in his own obsessive search for the Grail. Cornwell was planning at one point to write more books about the main character Thomas of Hookton and said that shortly after finishing ''Heretic'' he had "... started another Thomas of Hookton book, then stopped it – mainly because I felt that his story ended in ''Heretic'' and I was just trying to get too much from him. Which doesn't mean I won't pick the idea up again sometime in the future."


The Saxon Stories

Cornwell's latest series focuses on the Anglo-Saxon kingdom of
Wessex The Kingdom of the West Saxons, also known as the Kingdom of Wessex, was an Anglo-Saxon Heptarchy, kingdom in the south of Great Britain, from around 519 until Alfred the Great declared himself as King of the Anglo-Saxons in 886. The Anglo-Sa ...
, England during the 9th-century reign of
Alfred the Great Alfred the Great ( ; – 26 October 899) was King of the West Saxons from 871 to 886, and King of the Anglo-Saxons from 886 until his death in 899. He was the youngest son of King Æthelwulf and his first wife Osburh, who both died when Alfr ...
, his fierce opposition to the Danes and his determination to unite England as one country.


Thrillers

Cornwell's thrillers are modern mysteries, all with sailing themes. He is a traditional sailor and enjoys sailing his Cornish Crabber by the name of ''Royalist''. His thorough knowledge of sailing and popular skills with writing combine in great novels for the nautically obsessed. According to Cornwell's website, there may be no additions to the series: "I enjoyed writing the thrillers, but suspect I am happier writing historical novels. I'm always delighted when people want more of the sailing books, but I'm not planning on writing any more, at least not now – but who knows? perhaps when I retire."


Other standalone novels


Non-fiction

Cornwell published a nonfiction book, '' Waterloo: The History of Four Days, Three Armies and Three Battles'', released in September 2014, timely for the 200th anniversary of that battle. ''Waterloo: The History of Four Days, Three Armies and Three Battles'' September 2014 / 9780007539383 (UK edition) Publisher William Collins


Bibliography


References


External links

*
Bibliography at Fantastic Fiction
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cornwell Bernard Bibliography Bibliographies by writer Bibliographies of historical novels Bibliographies of British writers