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The Last Kingdom (The Saxon Stories, #1) - Bernard Cornwell, Tom Sellwood
The Last Kingdom (The Saxon Stories, #1)
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The first book in a brand new series, The Last Kingdom is set in England during the reign of King Alfred. Uhtred is an English boy, born into the aristocracy of ninth-century Northumbria. Orphaned at ten, he is captured and adopted by a Dane and taught the Viking ways. Yet Uhtred's fate is... show more
The first book in a brand new series, The Last Kingdom is set in England during the reign of King Alfred. Uhtred is an English boy, born into the aristocracy of ninth-century Northumbria. Orphaned at ten, he is captured and adopted by a Dane and taught the Viking ways. Yet Uhtred's fate is indissolubly bound up with Alfred, King of Wessex, who rules over the only English kingdom to survive the Danish assault. The struggle between the English and the Danes and the strife between christianity and paganism is the background to Uhtred's growing up. He is left uncertain of his loyalties but a slaughter in a winter dawn propels him to the English side and he will become a man just as the Danes launch their fiercest attack yet on Alfred's kingdom. Marriage ties him further still to the West Saxon cause but when his wife and child vanish in the chaos of the Danish invasion, Uhtred is driven to face the greatest of the Viking chieftains in a battle beside the sea. There, in the horror of the shield-wall, he discovers his true allegiance. The Last Kingdom, like most of Bernard Cornwell's books, is firmly based on true history. It is the first novel of a series that will tell the tale of Alfred the Great and his descendants and of the enemies they faced, Viking warriors like Ivar the Boneless and his feared brother, Ubba. Against their lives Bernard Cornwell has woven a story of divided loyalties, reluctant love and desperate heroism. In Uhtred, he has created one of his most interesting and heroic characters and in The Last Kingdom one of his most powerful and passionate novels.
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Format: audiobook
ISBN: 9780792734758 (0792734750)
Publisher: BBC Audiobooks
Minutes: 13
Edition language: English
Series: The Warrior Chronicles/Saxon Stories (#1)
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Community Reviews
Blackbird's Book Blog
Blackbird's Book Blog rated it
0.0 The Last Kingdom
First rate piece of historical fiction. Although it is difficult to be a visitor in this world because the brutality is soul crushing. However, the quality of the writing and the thought provoking themes will keep me reading the whole series. But maybe t ake a break between books.
BrendaSD
BrendaSD rated it
4.0 The Last Kingdom
I had this book on my TBR for several months but only got to it after watching the first season of the TV series on BBC. The book is a detailed account of the battle for England in the late 800s between the Danes (Vikings, Norsemen, etc) and King Albert. The story follows Uhtred Ragnarson a Saxon ...
BrendaSD
BrendaSD rated it
4.0 The Last Kingdom
I had this book on my TBR for several months but only got to it after watching the first season of the TV series on BBC. The book is a detailed account of the battle for England in the late 800s between the Danes (Vikings, Norsemen, etc) and King Albert. The story follows Uhtred Ragnarson a Saxon ...
Brian's Book Blog
Brian's Book Blog rated it
4.0 The Last Kingdom
The start of another historical series from Bernard Cornwell, set in the early days of Danish invasion and settlement.Uhtred is the son of an English alderman. After his father is killed during a raid by the Danes, he is taken in and raised by them. His uncle takes his home village from him during t...
Bettie's Books
Bettie's Books rated it
4.0 The Last Kingdom
Revisit 2015 via miniseries:Episode One description: Lord Uhtred (Matthew Macfadyen), one of the more important earldormen of Northumbria, is killed and his 10-year old son, Uhtred, and a girl called Brida are taken as slaves by the Viking chief Earl Ragnar. The boy saves Ragnar's daughter Thyra fro...
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