The Last Kingdom - (Last Kingdom (Formerly Saxon Tales)) by Bernard Cornwell (Paperback)

About the Book

From a bestselling author comes a saga of fidelity and betrayal that brings to center stage King Alfred the Great, one of the most crucial figures in English history. It is King Alfred and his heirs who in the ninth and tenth centuries fought to secure the survival of England by battling the ferocious Viking invaders.

Book Synopsis

The first installment of Bernard Cornwell's New York Times bestselling historical fiction series chronicling the epic saga of the making of England, "like Game of Thrones, but real" (The Observer, London)--the basis for The Last Kingdom, the hit Netflix series.

This is the exciting--yet little known--story of the making of England in the 9th and 10th centuries, the years in which King Alfred the Great, his son and grandson defeated the Danish Vikings who had invaded and occupied three of England's four kingdoms.

The story is seen through the eyes of Uhtred, a dispossessed Saxon nobleman, who is captured as a child by the Danes and then raised by them so that, by the time the Northmen begin their assault on Wessex (Alfred's kingdom and the last territory in English hands) Uhtred almost thinks of himself as a Dane. He certainly has no love for Alfred, whom he considers a pious weakling and no match for Viking savagery, yet when Alfred unexpectedly defeats the Danes and the Danes themselves turn on Uhtred, he is finally forced to choose sides in a brutal clash of cultures. By now he is a young man, in love, trained to fight and ready to take his place in the dreaded shield wall. Above all, though, he wishes to recover his father's land, the enchanting fort of Bebbanburg by the wild northern sea, in a relentless blood feud.

This action-packed, thrilling adventure--based on existing records of Bernard Cornwell's ancestors--depicts a time when law and order were ripped violently apart by a pagan assault on Christian England, an assault that came very close to destroying England.

From the Back Cover

The first installment of Bernard Cornwell's bestselling series chronicling the epic saga of the making of England, "like Game of Thrones, but real" (The Observer, London)--the basis for The Last Kingdom, the hit BBC America television series.

This is the exciting--yet little known--story of the making of England in the 9th and 10th centuries, the years in which King Alfred the Great, his son and grandson defeated the Danish Vikings who had invaded and occupied three of England's four kingdoms.

The story is seen through the eyes of Uhtred, a dispossessed nobleman, who is captured as a child by the Danes and then raised by them so that, by the time the Northmen begin their assault on Wessex (Alfred's kingdom and the last territory in English hands) Uhtred almost thinks of himself as a Dane. He certainly has no love for Alfred, whom he considers a pious weakling and no match for Viking savagery, yet when Alfred unexpectedly defeats the Danes and the Danes themselves turn on Uhtred, he is finally forced to choose sides. By now he is a young man, in love, trained to fight and ready to take his place in the dreaded shield wall. Above all, though, he wishes to recover his father's land, the enchanting fort of Bebbanburg by the wild northern sea.

This thrilling adventure--based on existing records of Bernard Cornwell's ancestors--depicts a time when law and order were ripped violently apart by a pagan assault on Christian England, an assault that came very close to destroying England.

Review Quotes

"Masterful....[An]irresistible epic adventure....Cornwell deserves praise for his mesmerizing narrative finesse and his authentic historical detailing." - Booklist

"A crackling good storyteller." - Publishers Weekly

"Historical novels stand or fall on detail, and Mr. Cornwell writes as if he has been to ninth-century Wessex and back. Much has changed since the ninth century, but some things, and some feelings, are timeless." - Wall Street Journal

"Superior entertainment that is both engaging and enlightening....Historical adventures as smart and vigorous as Cornwell's are in short supply." - Washington Post

"[Soaked] in nasty political intrigue, ripsnorting battles, and pungent blasphemy.... Glorious." - Entertainment Weekly

"For readers who find contentment in reading historical novels featuring clanking swords and battlefield carnage, Bernard Cornwell should be at the very top of your list." - USA Today

"Enthralling ... the desperate, heroic struggle of Alfred "the Great" ... against the seemingly invincible Vikings. - Wall Street Journal

"History comes alive." - Boston Globe

"Bernard Cornwell does the best battle scenes of any writer I've ever read, past or present." - George R.R. Martin

"Cornwell .... makes the usually gloomy ninth century sound like a hell of a lot of fun." - Kirkus Reviews

"Highly recommended ... another great historical series in the making." - Library Journal (starred review)

"Enter Cornwell's vividly drawn ninth-century Kingdom ... after this dip into the Dark Ages, we want to go back." - Entertainment Weekly

"Intoxicating....Thrilling....Cornwell conveys the disquiet of change and the melancholy of extinction as few historical novelists manage to." - Washington Post Book World