The Last Kingdom

This is the first installment in a new series, in which the life story of a fictional vassal to Alfred the Great of Wessex serves as a vehicle to recount the history of the late ninth-century Anglo-Saxon king. The Danish Viking Ragnar kills the brother of Uhtred, the 10-year-old son of an Earl in the kingdom of Northumbria, and kidnaps Uhtred himself, raising him as a warrior. Years later, the nearly-grown Uhtred accompanies Ragnar as he leads an invading force to Wessex, the only one of the four English kingdoms as yet unconquered by Ragnar and his Danes. His experiences in Wessex lead Uhtred to question where his loyalties truly lie. Bernard Cornwell is the author of several popular sets of historical novels, including the Sharpe and King Arthur series.