Bernard Cornwell, OBE, was born in London in 1944 where he was adopted by a family in Essex. Having graduated from London University, he went on to work at the BBC for the next 10 years until he met his wife Judy. Cornwell then moved to America to be with Judy, but was refused a working permit. He therefore decided to write the now much loved Sharpe series – the adventures of a British solider in the Napoleonic wars. As well as the Sharpe series, Cornwell is known for the Starbuck Chronicles, the Warlord trilogy, the Grail Quest series and the Alfred series.