Oops! Errors, omissions and loose ends ...

I do my best to make sure that the background to my stories is accurate. Most of my books are read before printing by some twenty people, usually including one or two experts – scientists, historians, or just people who have direct experience of what I'm writing about. But, somehow, mistakes always creep through…

World Without End

The corn
The word "corn" is a little confusing. It is used to mean any grain crop including wheat, barley and rye. It is also short for Indian corn or sweetcorn which was brought to Europe from the New World in the 15th century.

Gwenda and Sam
On page 910 of the US edition and page 997 of the UK edition I write that "Gwenda and Ralph reached the settlement...". It should read "Gwenda and Sam...".

Whiteout

The wine
On Christmas Eve, Stanley opens a bottle of 'Brunello Di Moltepulciano'. He couldn't have, as I had created a blend that doesn't exist. I meant 'Brunello Di Montalcino' (though there is a wine named 'Rosso Di Montepulciano').

Hornet Flight

Volvo
Arne is smuggled from Bornholm to the mainland in the back of a Volvo PV444, a large estate car or station wagon. Unfortunately, this vehicle did not go on sale until 1947, six years after the time of the story.

Jackdaws

Time
In my first draft, the rendezvous at the cathedral was to be at eleven o' clock in the morning. In the rewrite, I changed this to three in the afternoon. But in one place I overlooked it and left the old time in.

Humboldt University
'Flick' Clairet learns that Major Dieter Franck attended Humboldt University in Berlin. However, he could not have, as between 1828 (when it was founded by Wilhelm von Humboldt) and 1949 it was known as Friedrich Wilhelm's University. It changed its name to the one I used four years after WWII had ended.

Code to Zero

Ford Fiesta
In 1958 Luke steals a Ford Fiesta car, but the Ford Fiesta only came onto the scene in 1978. I was thinking of the 1953 Oldsmobile Fiesta.

Moon landing
The date of the moon landing is given as 1968, when it was actually in 1969. In a novel about the space programme, this is a really embarrassing mistake.

Xerox Copier
I have had many letters saying there were no Xerox copiers in offices in 1958, but in this case I believe I'm right. The Xerox 'Model A' copy machine was first marketed in 1949. It must have been rare, because many people imagine that Xerox copiers did not exist before the early sixties. However, they did!

Luke's watch
At the beginning of the story, Luke has no watch. By the end, he has a wristwatch. When did he get it? He might have picked it up when he was at the Carlton Hotel – but the book doesn't say.

The Hammer of Eden

Hindu and Muslim names
One of the FBI agents is a Hindu called Raja Khan. Raja is a popular Hindu name, but Khan is a typical Muslim name. Some of my readers suffer a sense-of-humour lapse about this error.

Lie Down with Lions

Boiling point
At school I was good at chemistry but I struggled with physics. When Ellis and Jane are on the run in the foothills of the Himalayan mountains, they have trouble cooking rice “because it took forever to boil water at this altitude.” Wrong. At high altitude, where the air pressure is reduced, water boils more quickly, because it reaches boiling point at lower temperatures. The problem is that the water, not being so hot, takes a long time to cook the food.

Eye of the Needle

U-boat
"The U-505 wheeled in a tedious circle, her powerful diesels chugging slowly as she nosed through the depths like a grey, toothless, shark." Nice imagery, but unfortunately submarines used electric engines when submerged. The diesel engines can only be used when the vessel is on the surface (though later versions of U-boats had 'snorkels' that allowed them to use the diesels submerged at a shallow depth).

Most of these mistakes should have been corrected in later editions of the books.