"I think the real thing was even more frightening. No,
I suspect I would have been a hack, writing away
in Fleet Street. But I've always been interested in the Napoleonic Wars, and I've always
thought that
they provide an incredibly rich backdrop for a writer. The naval side of the wars has been
well mined
by half a dozen authors and it has always amazed me that nobody was doing the same for the
army -
until I came along - and in many ways the army stories are even richer than the naval
ones. So it's a
godsend to an adventure writer – you have this ready-made background full of the most
unlikely
events which all happen to be true."
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