The first installment of Bernard Cornwell's New York Times 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 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

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The second installment of Bernard Cornwell's New York Times 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 television series.

As the last unvanquished piece of England, Wessex is eyed hungrily by the fearsome Viking conquerors. Uhtred, a dispossessed young nobleman, is tied to the

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The Danes of East Anglia and the Vikings of Northumbria are plotting the conquest of all Britain. When King Alfred's daughter pleads with Uhtred for help, he cannot refuse her request. In a desperate gamble, he takes command of a demoralized Mercian army, leading them in an unforgettable battle on a blood-soaked field beside the Thames.

When a priceless manuscript goes missing, suspicion falls on Richard Shakespeare, the estranged brother of the famous author, forcing him down a perilous path through London.

"Bernard Cornwell's epic story of the making of England continues in this eleventh installment in the bestselling Saxon Tales series--"like Game of Thrones, but real" (The Observer)--the basis of the hit Netflix television series The Last Kingdom. His blood is Saxon. His heart is Viking. His battleground is England. "Perhaps the greatest writer of historical adventure novels today" (Washington Post), Bernard Cornwell has dazzled and entertained readers...

Uhtred has been made Governor of London while Alfred, building fortified towns to hold Wesssex, pushes into Mercia.

Young Nate Starbuck, the son of a famous Boston abolitionist preacher, flees the North after helping a femme fatale to steal money she claimed was hers. When Richmond landowner Washington Faulconer snatches him from the grip of a Yankee-hating mob, Nate is both grateful to and awed by his idealistic rescuer. He agrees to join the newly formed Faulconer's Legion—even though it means fighting against his native North.

But Nate's dilemma is only

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"Uhtred of Bebbanburg is a man of his word. An oath bound him to King Alfred. An oath bound him to AEthelflAEd. And now an oath will wrench him away from the ancestral home he fought so hard to regain. For Uhtred has sworn that on King Edward's death, he will kill two men. And now Edward is dying. A violent attack drives Uhtred south with a small band of warriors, and headlong into the battle for kingship. Plunged into a world of shifting alliances...