The Last Kingdom
Fiction
Harper Perennial
January 3, 2006
368
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.
I picked up somewhere that I was supposed to read something by the historical novelist Bernard Cornwell, so I choose this one. I enjoyed it, and it kept my interest all the way through. It was something like reading a well-written encyclopedia article, punctuated with battle scenes. This is a story about the Danish invasion of England, and King Alfred’s defense of it. Great descriptions of the shield wall.