Cornwell wrote two books a year for a long time, slowing to one book per year in his sixties. He views historical fiction as presenting a big story in the historical events and a little story in the fictional plot. Patrick O'Brian wrote the Aubrey-Maturin series of historical adventures set in the Napoleonic era, and he said that there was "too much plot, not enough lifestyle" in both Cornwell's novels and those of C. S. Forester. Cornwell took that as a compliment and an accurate appraisal of the difference between their styles, while appreciating the favorable comparison to Forester.