"Bernard Cornwell ... is an English author of historical novels,[etc.] ...Cornwell has written ... novels primarily of English history in [several] series ... A feature of his historical novels is an end note on how the novel matches or differs from history, for the re-telling, and what one might see at the modern site of the battles described in the novel. One series ... is set in the American Civil War. He wrote a nonfiction book on the battle of Waterloo, in addition to the fictional story of the famous battle in the Sharpe Series. Two of the historical novel series have been adapted for television; the Sharpe television series by ITV and The Last Kingdom by BBC." --Wikipedia, (8/12/17)
Cornwell's fictional character, Richard Sharpe, is used to bring to life the turbulent times in England before, and during the era of the Napoleonic wars on the European continent (late 18th and early 19th centuries). Orphaned at an early age, he winds up in the army to escape prison. His military career takes him from Flanders, in1794, to India (1799), and eventually back to England in 1805. in 22 novels and short stories, spanning 1799 to 1821, He encounters many historical figures and takes part in many of the era's notable battles. Cornwell brings the period to life in works of well crafted action and insightful story-telling that was often difficult for me to put down.
The TV series was commendable but, as usual in my opinion, a poor second to the books. Having first read the novels, I was able to 'fill in' some of the necessary ommissions of the films, however. One other benefit was an even better ability to 'visualize' much of the narrative upon a second reading, having seen some of the TV films.
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As a young student, I often thought that history was really dull and boring. In later years I realized that it wasn't 'history' that was boring, it was the way it was presented by most of my teachers and school texts. A very few of the teachers I had were different. They taught me that history was more than dry, dusty dates and events, or the names of famous people and leaders who were long dead and meant nothing to me.
When I was introduced to 'historical fiction', I found that there were stories that were exciting, full of action and adventure, such as a young boy craves. The best ones brought the past alive in such a way that I began to see how an understanding of history helped me make sense out of the present, as well. They inspired me to want to know more...
Movies, too, brought the past alive (not always accurately) and stoked my curiosity. My dad took us to all kinds of movies, specially when we were at the beach on vacation. My curiosity was always aroused by the high adventure of movies such as Captain Horatio Hornblower (1951) with Gregory Peck and Virginia Mayo; King Solomon's Mines (1950) with Stewart Granger and Deborah Kerr; To Hell and Back (1955) with Audie Murphy (as himself); Moby Dick (1956) Gregory Peck; Run Silent, Run Deep (1958), Clarke Gable and Burt Lancaste; Zulu (1964), Jack Hawkins, Michael Caine, et al.; The Naked Prey (1965) with Cornel Wilde; and more 'Westerns' than I can count! LOL! This passion has continued to the present day. I am overwhelmed by the quantity, and quality, of entertaining and exciting movies and 'documentaries' available on TV, NETFLIX, YouTube, etc. Unfortunately, there is a lot of 'crap' as well, but learning to 'evaluate' and 'discriminate' between various offerings is, or should be, part of the 'educational process'.
When I was older I read all of C.S. Forester's 'Hornblower' novels, H. Rider Haggard's Allan Quatermain stories (and She), the 'frontier stories' and historical novels of Louis L'Amour, and others. I loved to seek out the 'real' history revealed within the pages of Robert Louis Stevenson, Alexander Dumas, James Fenimore Cooper, Sir Walter Scott, and others. These works brought to life the more scholarly, but often 'dry' and, to me, 'boring', recitation of dates and events. This, too, continues as a major passion today. As my time remaining grows shorter, I find my list of 'things to do' grows ever longer! LOL
As I observe many of my students and other children, today, I find that their knowledge and understanding of their past is practically non-existent, despite ever richer offerings in various media, as well as literature. Even more disturbing is the way they are taught to 'judge' the past by some contemporary ideas of 'political correctness'. Even some of my contemporaries are disappointingly narrow-minded, biased, and inappropriately judgemental in the absence of any real facts. The lack of historical perspective and awareness often manifests itself in extreme political views and other disturbing behaviour. My exploration of history assures me that this 'state of affairs' is as old as mankind!
In this forum I invite the group to share, and debate, their own experiences in trying to understand recent and ancient 'history' and how it can help us to better understand ourselves. I don't really want to see it become about politics but, certainly, politics is an important aspect of history. Whatever we post, let's keep it civil! Our aim should always be 'greater understanding' of ourselves and each other.