Uhtred is an English boy of 9th century Northumbria, orphaned at ten, adopted by a Dane and taught the Viking ways. Yet Uhtred's fate is bound up with King Alfred, who rules over the last English kingdom, after the Danes overrun the other three. That war, with its massacres, defeats and betrayals, is the background to Uhtred's childhood, and leaves him uncertain of his loyalties. After witnessing a slaughter, he joins the English side just as the Danes launch their fiercest attack yet. Marriage ties him further to Alfred's kingdom, but when his wife and child vanish during a Danish invasion, Uhtred is driven to face the greatest Viking chieftain in a battle beside the sea, and there he discovers his true allegiance.

"Bestseller Cornwell leaps back a millennium from his Richard Sharpe series to tell of the consolidation of England in the late ninth century and the role played by a young (fictional) warrior-in-training who's at the center of the war between Christian Englishmen and the pagan Danes. (Most of the other principal characters — Ubba, Guthrum, Ivar the Boneless and the like — are real historical figures.) Young Uhtred, who's English, falls under the control of Viking ber-warrior Ragnar the Fearless when the Dane wipes out Uhtred's Northumberland family. Cornwell liberally feeds readers history and nuggets of battle data and customs, with Uhtred's first-person wonderment spinning all into a colorful journey of (self-)discovery. In a series of episodes, Ragnar conquers three of England's four kingdoms. The juiciest segment has King Edmund of East Anglia rebuking the Viking pagans and demanding that they convert to Christianity if they intend to remain in England. After Edmund cites the example of St. Sebastian, the Danes oblige him by turning him into a latter-day Sebastian and sending him off to heaven. Uhtred's affection for Ragnar as a surrogate father grows, and he surpasses the conqueror's blood sons in valor. When father and adopted son arrive at the fourth and last kingdom, however, the Danes meet unexpected resistance and Uhtred faces personal and familial challenges, as well as a crisis of national allegiance. This is a solid adventure by a crackling good storyteller. Agent, Toby Eady. (Feb.) Forecast: Cornwell's own life served as inspiration for this novel: he, too, was orphaned (and adopted by members of a strict fundamentalist sect). Readers who followed the story of his reunion with his birth father in 2003 (while he was on tour with Sharpe's Havoc) will take special interest in the personal angle here. Four-city author tour. " Publishers Weekly (Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information, Inc.)

"Cornwell's no-fail mix of historic tidbits and good-humored action makes the usually gloomy ninth century sound like a hell of a lot of fun." Kirkus Reviews

"Cornwell's best historical fiction pleases us mightily in the way his renditions of the great actors and events of yore stray from received versions. Such contrariness is partly the product of meticulous research and partly of a mischievous sense of humor. Happily, both inform The Last Kingdom throughout." The Washington Post

"An acknowledged master of rousing battlefield fiction as evidenced by his crackling Richard Sharpe series, Cornwell also deserves praise for his mesmerizing narrative finesse and his authentic historical detailing." Booklist

"In historic period and emotional complexity, this is arguably a more broadly imagined world than Bernard Cornwell has offered in his 36 previous novels." Boston Globe

"Cornwell is a talented historical novelist, and he's at the top of his game here — all the more so because the history of the ninth century is much less documented than the nineteenth." BookReporter.com

In the middle years of the ninth-century, the fierce Danes stormed onto British soil, hungry for spoils and conquest. Kingdom after kingdom fell to the ruthless invaders until but one realm remained. And suddenly the fate of all England — and the course of history — depended upon one man, one king.

From New York Times bestselling storyteller Bernard Cornwell comes a rousing epic adventure of courage, treachery, duty, devotion, majesty, love, and battle as seen through the eyes of a young warrior who straddled two worlds.

In the middle years of the ninth-century, the fierce Danes stormed onto British soil, hungry for spoils and conquest. Kingdom after kingdom fell to the ruthless invaders until but one realm remained. And suddenly the fate of all England—and the course of history—depended upon one man, one king.

From New York Times bestselling storyteller Bernard Cornwell comes a rousing epic adventure of courage, treachery, duty, devotion, majesty, love, and battle as seen through the eyes of a young warrior who straddled two worlds.

Bernard Cornwell is the author of the acclaimed and bestselling Saxon Tales, as well as the Richard Sharpe novels, among many others. He lives with his wife on Cape Cod.