Bernard Cornwell OBE (born 23 February 1944) is an
English author of
historical novels. He is best known for his novels about
Napoleonic Wars rifleman Richard Sharpe which were adapted into a series of
Sharpe television films.
Biography
Cornwell was born in
London in 1944. His father was a
Canadian airman, and his mother was English, a member of the
Women's Auxiliary Air Force. He was adopted and brought up in
Essex by the Wiggins family, who were members of the
Peculiar People, a strict
Protestant sect who were pacifists, banned frivolity of all kinds and even medicine. After he left them, he changed his name to his mother's maiden name, Cornwell.
Cornwell was sent away to
Monkton Combe School, attended the
University of London, and after graduating, worked as a teacher. He attempted to enlist in the British armed services at least three times, but was rejected on the grounds of
myopia.
He then joined
BBC's
Nationwide and was promoted to become head of current affairs at BBC Northern Ireland. He then joined
Thames Television as editor of Thames News. He relocated to the
United States in 1980 after marrying an American. Unable to get a
Green Card, he started writing novels, as this did not require a work permit.
As a child, Cornwell loved the novels of
C. S. Forester, chronicling the adventures of fictional British naval officer
Horatio Hornblower during the
Napoleonic Wars, and was surprised to find that there were no such novels following
Lord Wellington's campaign on land. Motivated by the need to support himself in the U.S. through writing, Cornwell decided to write such a series. He named his chief protagonist Richard Sharpe, a rifleman involved in most major battles of the
Peninsular War.
Cornwell wanted to start the series with the
Siege of Badajoz but decided instead to start with a couple of "warm-up" novels. These were
Sharpe's Eagle and
Sharpe's Gold, both published in
1981.
was picked up by a publisher, and Cornwell got a three-book deal. He went on to tell the story of Badajoz in his third Sharpe novel
Sharpe's Company published in
1982.
Cornwell and wife Judy co-wrote a series of novels, published under the pseudonym "Susannah Kells". These were
A Crowning Mercy, published in
1983,
Fallen Angels in
1984, and
Coat of Arms (aka
The Aristocrats) in
1986. (Cornwell's strict Protestant upbringing informed the background of
A Crowning Mercy, which took place during the
English Civil War.) He also published
Redcoat, an
American Revolutionary War novel set in
Philadelphia during its 1777 occupation by the British, in
1987.
After publishing 8 books in his ongoing Sharpe series, Cornwell was approached by a production company interested in adapting them for television. The producers asked him to write a prequel to give them a starting point to the series. They also requested that the story feature a large role for Spanish characters to secure co-funding from
Spain. The result was
Sharpe’s Rifles, published in 1987 and a series of
Sharpe television films starring
Sean Bean.
A series of contemporary thrillers with sailing as a background and common themes followed:
Wildtrack published in
1988,
Sea Lord (aka
Killer's Wake) in
1989,
Crackdown in
1990,
Stormchild in
1991, and a political thriller called
Scoundrel in
1992.
In June 2006, Cornwell was made an Officer of the
Order of the British Empire in
the Queen's 80th Birthday Honours List.
Cornwell's latest work is titled
Azincourt and was released in the UK in October 2008. The protagonist is an archer who participates in the
Battle of Agincourt, a devastating defeat suffered by the French during the
Hundred Years War.
Novel series
The Sharpe stories
Cornwell's best known books feature the adventures of
Richard Sharpe, an English soldier during the
Napoleonic Wars.
The first 12 books of the Sharpe series (beginning in chronological order with
Sharpe's Rifles and ending with
Waterloo, sometimes published as
Sharpe's Waterloo) detail Sharpe's adventures in various
Peninsular War campaigns over the course of 12 years. Subsequently, Cornwell wrote a prequel trilogy -
Sharpe's Tiger,
Sharpe's Triumph, and
Sharpe's Fortress - depicting Sharpe's adventures under Wellington's command in
India, including his hard-won promotion to the officer corps.
He also wrote
Sharpe's Battle, a novel "inserted" into his previous continuity, taking place during the
Battle of Fuentes de Oñoro. Cornwell was initially dubious about the casting of
Sean Bean for the television adaptations, but was subsequently so delighted that he dedicated
Sharpe's Battle to him, and has admitted that he subtly changed the writing of the character to align with Bean's portrayal.
The following is the correct 'historical' order, although they are all stand alone stories:
- Sharpe's Prey: Richard Sharpe and the Expedition to Copenhagen, 1807
- Sharpe's Rifles: Richard Sharpe and the French Invasion of Galicia, January 1809
- Sharpe's Havoc: Richard Sharpe and the Campaign in Northern Portugal, Spring 1809
- Sharpe's Gold: Richard Sharpe and the Destruction of Almeida, August 1810
- Sharpe's Fury: Richard Sharpe & the Battle of Barrosa, March 1811
- Sharpe's Battle: Richard Sharpe and the Battle of Fuentes de Oñoro, May 1811
- Sharpe's Sword: Richard Sharpe and the Salamanca Campaign, June and July 1812
- Sharpe's Skirmish (short story): Richard Sharpe and the defence of the Tormes, August 1812
- Sharpe's Enemy: Richard Sharpe and the Defense of Portugal, Christmas 1812
- Sharpe's Honour: Richard Sharpe and the Vitoria Campaign, February to June 1813
The Starbuck Chronicles
A tetralogy set during the
American Civil War. The title character,
Nathaniel Starbuck, is a
Northerner who has decided to fight for the
South 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 Britain. The series postulates 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 trilogy that deals with a mid-14th century search for the
Holy Grail during the
Hundred Years' War. An English
archer, 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, England during the 9th-century reign of
Alfred the Great, his fierce opposition to the Danes (
Vikings), and his determination to unite England as one country. According to Cornwell's replies on his website bulletin board, the series will not be a trilogy like his medieval works, but will have 3 or 4 more sequels: "I'm not sure how many there will be - perhaps seven? maybe eight?"
The latest in the series, titled
The Burning Land, was released in Britain on 1st October 2009 and is due to be released in January 2010 in the US.
Bibliography
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- 1984 - Fallen Angels (co-author)
See also
