A special guest at the International Napoleonic Fair, even though not published by Greenhill, was Bernard Cornwell. More visitors Packed Bernard Cornwell talk about the Sharpe books Packed Digby Smith presentation about the battle of Leipzig The line of visitors waiting for the opening of this year’s International Napoleonic Fair, presented in London by Greenhill Books, started at 9 a.m. People came from all over Britain, from France and several other European countries, plus the United States and Canada, for this annual event. Despite being held on a rainy, dull day, more people attended than ever before. For the first presentation in the Lecture Hall, at 10.30 a.m. on a Sunday, there was a capacity audience. Bernard Cornwell had flown in specially for the event from his home in the United States, and entertained the audience with a humorous account of his Sharpe books. “I am not a historian” he advised, and deferred to the knowledge of many in the audience. “If you want to read quality military history about the period you should read books by authors whose names end in ‘-er’, such as Chandler, Weller, Glover and Fletcher”. He described the writing process, and the art and craft of the novelist and how history was adjusted so as to provide a good story. He commented, jocularly, that the Napoleonic Fair should be named after Wellington, and “Wellington would turn in his grave if he saw how many Napoleonic enthusiasts were present!”. Digby Smith autographing his new book: 1813: Leipzig - Napoleon and the Battle of the Nations. Greenhill published the new book 1813: Leipzig - Napoleon and the Battle of the Nations by Digby Smith to coincide with the Fair, and the author also spoke to a capacity audience. He presented a detailed appraisal of the climactic battle, and his illustrated talk included many graphic descriptions of the fighting. After lunch the Napoleonic Association presented their Quiz Challenge Cup, with Re-enactors vs Wargamers vs Authors vs Modellers. The winning team were the authors: Digby Smith, Andrew Uffindell and Jonathan North. As prize winners they each received engraved glass tankards and a copy of the new book 1813: Leipzig presented by Greenhill - which put Digby Smith into the amusing situation of receiving his own book as a prize, and Jonathan North (an Editor at Greenhill) receiving the book that he had edited for publication. The crowded scene at the very busy International Napoleonic Fair. Visitors packed the exhibit. Once again there were many book-stands, and stands with artwork and plates, models, militaria, wargames, videos, uniforms, etc, etc. The traders reported an excellent day, and many of the visitors went away with laden plastic bags. Magazines and societies from the subject area also exhibited. Amongst the visitors was historian Andrew Roberts, who said “The combination of specialists and amateurs, wargamers and booksellers, battle reconstructionalists and self-confessed fanatics made it a fascinating and really rather wonderful occasion. People came specially from all over the world for what was nevertheless a peculiarly British and loveably eccentric occasion. My highpoint was Bernard Cornwell’s witty but also profound speech about his Sharpe novels and the way they have been popularized by Sean Bean on TV. I greatly look forward to next year.” Andrew Roberts’ new book Napoleon and Waterloo: The Long Duel; will be published in September (Weidenfeld). John Anastasio of the 9th Regiment of Foot (East Norfolk) explaining the musket to Cath Stuart of Greenhill Books. Military Illustrated took advantage of the Napoleonic Fair to present, in the Napoleonic Fair Lecture Theatre, their annual re-enactment awards. The first category was Large Battle Re-enactment and the prizewinners were The Vikings NFPS. The winner of the Small Battle Re-enactment award was New France and Old England, and the Military Display award went to The Landsknechts. The Living History award went to The Guards Division. The International Napoleonic Fair for 2001 was a great success. This annual event continues, and the date for next year’s International Napoleonic Fair will be Sunday 17th February 2002. Mark it in your diary now! Back to Greenhill Military Book News No. 106 Table of Contents Back to Greenhill Military Book News List of Issues Back to Master Magazine List © Copyright 2001 by Greenhill Books This article appears in MagWeb (Magazine Web) on the Internet World Wide Web. Other military history articles and gaming articles are available at http://www.magweb.com