Bernard Cornwell – Saxon Chronicles 05 – The Burning Land

The latest in the bestselling Alfred series from number one historicalnovelist, Bernard Cornwell. In the last years of the ninth century, KingAlfred of Wessex is in failing health, and his heir is an untested youth.The Danes, who have failed so many times to conquer Wessex, smellopportunity! First comes Harald Bloodhair, a savage warrior leading a Vikinghorde, who is encouraged to cruelty by his woman, Skade. But Alfred stillhas the services of Uhtred, his unwilling warlord, who leads Harald into atrap and, at Farnham in Surrey, inflicts one of the greatest defeats theVikings were ever to suffer.

This novel, the fifth in the magnificent seriesof England's history tells of the final assaults on Alfred's Wessex, thatWessex survived to become England is because men like Uhtred defeated anenemy feared throughout Christendom.

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Bernard Cornwell – Saxon Chronicles 04 – Sword Song

The year is 885 and England is at peace, divided between the Danish kingdom to the North and the Saxon kingdom of Wessex in the south. Uhtred, the dispossessed son of a Northumbrian lord, warrior by instinct, Viking by nature, appears to have settled down. He has land, a wife, two children and a duty given to him by Alfred to hold the frontier on the Thames. But trouble stirs, a dead man has risen and new Vikings have arrived to occupy London. Their dream is to conquer Wessex, and to do it they need Uhtred's help.

Alfred has other ideas. He wants Uhtred to expel the Viking raiders from London. It is a dangerous time and Uhtred must decide how much his oath binds him to the king. Other storm clouds are gathering. Athelfled - Alfred's daughter - is now married, but a cruel twist of fate means that her very existence becomes a threat to Alfred's kingdom. It is Uhtred, half Saxon, half Dane, whose uncertain loyalties must now decide England's whole future.

Sword Song tells the story of the making of England and, like all Bernard Cornwell's previous novels, is based on true events. It is a gripping story of love, deceit, and violence, set in an England of tremendous turmoil and strife, yet one galvanised by a small flicker of hope that Alfred, the great king of Wessex, may prove a force that lasts. Uhtred, his greatest warrior, has become his sword, a man feared and respected the length and breadth of the land, his Lord of War.

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Bernard Cornwell – Saxon Chronicles 03 – The Lords of the North

Enter a world where bloody battles and heroic deeds combine in the historic struggle to unite Britain in the face of a common enemy. The third installment in Bernard Cornwell's "King Alfred" series follows on from the outstanding previous novels "The Last Kingdom" and "The Pale Horseman". The year is 878 and the Vikings have been thrown out of Wessex. Uhtred, fresh from fighting for Alfred in the battle to free Wessex, travels north to seek revenge for his father's death, killed in a bloody raid by Uhtred's old enemy, renegade Danish lord, Kjartan. While Kjartan lurks in his formidable stronghold of Dunholm, the north is overrun by chaos, rebellion and fear.

Together with a small band of warriors, Uhtred plans his attack on his enemy, revenge fuelling his anger, resolute on bloody retribution. But, he finds himself betrayed and ends up on a desperate slave voyage to Iceland. Rescued by a remarkable alliance of old friends and enemies, he and his allies, together with Alfred the Great, are free to fight once more in a battle for power, glory and honour. "The Lords of the North" is a tale of England's making, a powerful story of betrayal, struggle and romance, set in an England torn apart by turmoil and upheaval.

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Bernard Cornwell – Saxon Chronicles 02 – The Pale Horseman

THE PALE HORSEMAN the compelling sequel to the bestselling THE LAST KINGDOM. Uhtred, Northumbrian born, raised a Viking and now married to a Saxon, is already a formidable figure and warrior. But at twenty he is still arrogant, pagan and headstrong, so not a comfortable ally for the thoughtful, pious Alfred. But these two, with Alfred's family and a few of Uhtred's companions, are apparently all that remains of the Wessex leadership after a disastrous truce. It is the lowest time for the Saxons.

Defeated comprehensively by the Vikings who now occupy most of England, Alfred and his surviving followers retreat to the trackless marshlands of Somerset. There, forced to move restlessly to escape betrayal or detection, using the marsh mists for cover, they travel by small boats from one island to another, hoping that they can regroup and find some more strength and support. They seek refuge in Athelney, a tidal swamp to which Alfred's kingdom has shrunk. Uhtred finds himself torn between his Danish foster brother and the winning Vikings, and his growing respect for the stubborn leadership of Alfred.

He must decide whether to rebuild the Saxons' strength from his watery base and help them to take on the Vikings once more. THE PALE HORSEMAN is a splendid story of divided loyalties and desperate heroism, with a wonderful range of characters from Vikings to British kings in their Cornish fortresses, from political but passionate priests to enduring fishermen and farmers desperately striving to survive as the battle sweeps over them. Uhtred and Alfred, Vikings and Saxons, are a winning combination for Bernard Cornwell.

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Bernard Cornwell - Saxon Chronicles 01 - The Last Kingdom

HarperCollins are delighted to announce that this bestselling, favourite author, following the triumphant conclusion to the Grail Quest series with the publication of Heretic, has embarked on a new medieval series. The Last Kingdom is set in the England of the ninth and tenth centuries. These were the years when the Danish Vikings had invaded and occupied three of England's four kingdoms, and when King Alfred, his son and grandson fought back and won the freedom of the country again. The story is seen through the eyes of Uhtred, a dispossessed English nobleman.

Captured as a child and raised by the Danes, he now finds his allegiances divided. But the one thing he knows is that he wants to recover his father's land, the fort by the wild northern sea that we now know as Bamburgh. Bernard Cornwell is a master of historical fiction and this new series looking with a fresh light at Alfred the Great, his kingdom and his legacy will be as outstanding and as popular as the Grail Quest and the Warlord Chronicles.

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