The Last Kingdom
4.1
Open LibraryFirst lines
My name is Uhtred.
My name is Uhtred.
My name is Uhtred.
About this book
From Bernard Cornwell, the New York Times bestselling author whom the Washington Post calls "perhaps the greatest writer of historical adventure novels today," comes a saga of blood, rage, fidelity, and betrayal that brings to center stage King Alfred the Great, one of the most crucial (but oft-forgotten) figures in English history. It is King Alfred and his heirs who, in the ninth and tenth centuries, with their backs against the wall, fought to secure the survival of the last outpost of Anglo-Saxon culture by battling the ferocious Vikings, whose invading warriors had already captured and occupied three of England's four kingdoms.Bernard Cornwell's epic novel opens in A.D. 866. Uhtred, a boy of ten and the son of a nobleman, is captured in the same battle that leaves his father dead. His captor is the Earl Ragnar, a Danish chieftain, who raises the boy as his own, teaching him the Viking ways of war. As a young man expected to take part in raids and bloody massacres against the English, he grapples with divided loyalties -- between Ragnar, the warrior he loves like a father, and Alfred, whose piety and introspection leave him cold. It takes a terrible slaughter and the unexpected joys of marriage for Uhtred to discover his true allegiance -- and to rise to his greatest challenge.In Uhtred, Cornwell has created perhaps his richest and most complex protagonist, and through him, he has magnificently evoked an era steeped in dramatic pageantry and historical significance. For if King Alfred fails to defend his last kingdom, England will be overrun, and the entire course of hi…
Themes & subjects
FictionHistoryVikingsHistorical Fictionnyt:e-book-fiction=2012-03-25New York Times bestseller
First published 2004Characters & people
Setting
Great Britain871-899 AlfredAlfred, 871-899
About the author
Bernard Cornwell
23 February 1944
Bernard Cornwell (born February 23, 1944) is an English author of historical novels, known for his meticulous research and engaging storytelling. Born in London, England, to a Canadian airman father and a mother in the Women's Auxiliary Air Force, he was adopted by a family in Essex belonging to the Peculiar People sect. Cornwell attended London University and worked as a teacher before joining the BBC, where he spent a decade, eventually becoming Head of Current Affairs in Northern Ireland. Bernard Cornwell is renowned for his long-running series of novels, including the *Sharpe* series about Napoleonic Wars rifleman Richard Sharpe, the *Saxon Stories* (also known as *The Last Kingdom* s…
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