The Last Kingdom

This is the tale of the creation of England in the ninth and tenth centuries, when three of England's four kingdoms were conquered by Danish Vikings led by King Alfred the Great, his son, and his grandson.

The narrative is told through the perspective of Uhtred, a dispossessed nobleman who is reared by the Danes after being taken prisoner by them as a kid. As a result, by the time the Northmen launch their attack on Wessex, which is Alfred's realm and the last area controlled by the English, Uhtred almost considers himself to be a Dane. He doesn't even love Alfred, whom he views as a religious coward and no match for the brutality of the Vikings, but when Alfred unexpectedly defeats the Danes and the Danes turn on Uhtred, he is ultimately forced to make a decision. He is a young man by now, in love, combat trained, and prepared to assume his position in the feared shield wall. But above all, he wants to reclaim the territory that belonged to his father—the enchanted fort of Bebbanburg on the untamed northern sea.

This exciting tale, which is based on the facts that are now available about Bernard Cornwell's forebears, portrays a period when a pagan onslaught on Christian England severely tore apart law and order and almost destroyed England.