The Last Kingdom (The Saxon Chronicles Series #1) [Mass Market Paperback]

Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0060532807
• ISBN-13: 978-0060532802
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (168 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #7,856,979 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Bernard Cornwell was born in London in 1944 - a 'warbaby' - whose father was a Canadian airman and mother in Britain's Women's Auxiliary Air Force. He was adopted by a family in Essex who belonged to a religious sect called the Peculiar People (and they were), but escaped to London University and, after a stint as a teacher, he joined BBC Television where he worked for the next 10 years. He began as a researcher on the Nationwide programme and ended as Head of Current Affairs Television for the BBC in Northern Ireland. It was while working in Belfast that he met Judy, a visiting American, and fell in love. Judy was unable to move to Britain for family reasons so Bernard went to the States where he was refused a Green Card. He decided to earn a living by writing, a job that did not need a permit from the US government - and for some years he had been wanting to write the adventures of a British soldier in the Napoleonic wars - and so the Sharpe series was born. Bernard and Judy married in 1980, are still married, still live in the States and he is still writing Sharpe.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

127 of 132 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars THE LAST KINGDOM Delivers!, December 3, 2004

By 

Kimberly Gelderman (Spring Lake, MI USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Last Kingdom (The Saxon Chronicles Series #1) (Hardcover)

It is Northumbria, England, in the year 866. Uhtred, the son of an Earl becomes an orphan at ten and is captured and adopted by Ragnar the Dane. He is taught the Viking ways and Ragnar becomes more a father to him than his own father ever was. He loves the unrestricted, impious ways of the Danes and learns to become a formidable warrior.

King Alfred, (later known as "The Great") is portrayed as an over pious but clever King of Essex. While Alfred is not a well-liked King, he is an intelligent one and soon comes to bind Uhtred to his cause against the Danes.

The brutally descriptive battle scenes are exciting and repellant at the same time. Battles and wars are not described here as glorious and heroic circumstances but as what they really were, brutal, bloody, and often times fatal.

This title was an excellent read and I just couldn't put it down many times at night. I've read it until the wee hours of the morning. I believe this is the best BC title I have ever read to date, even though I haven't read any of the Sharpe's novels (that era and place settings are not of interest to me). I highly recommend this novel to anyone interested in early English (Saxon) history and/or Alfred the Great (and in the upcoming series, his descendants).

39 of 39 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Cornwell is a master of the historical novel, June 5, 2005

By 

Jerry Saperstein (Evanston, IL USA) - See all my reviews
(HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: The Last Kingdom (The Saxon Chronicles Series #1) (Hardcover)

Just a few moments ago, I was writing a review of one of Cornwell's American Civil War novels. Now I am writing a review of this Cornwell novel about 9th Century England. That's how good a historical novelist Cornwell is: the era doesn't matter. Cornwell weaves fact and fiction together seamlessly, believably and in a way sure to engage the reader's interest.

The year is 866 A.D. The island is not yet united and the Danes raid and conquer at will. Cornwell's device is Uhtred, the 10 year old son of a minor chieftain, who is taken by the Danes, raised in the Viking ways of war and accepted as a Viking warrior.

A priest becomes the medium through which the boy grows into a man and meets Alfred, the King who will take the first major steps in uniting England.

Cornwell's story is well plotted, his characters are delightfully rich and his history both interesting and fascinating. A wonderful read.

Jerry

30 of 30 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars my favorite of all, January 31, 2005

By 

a reader (Austin, TX USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Last Kingdom (The Saxon Chronicles Series #1) (Hardcover)

I've read almost all the Cornwell books: the Sharpe series, Civil War series, the archer, and King Arthur--only the 2 or 3 individual novels have been missed. This is my favorite so far. It is similar to the King Arthur books but with less of the mysticism and magic. The hero is a spunky boy who amuses a Viking chief during a battle and is adopted; the Norse life proves to be more suited to his taste and he grows up as a Dane. However, some old business brings him back to the English side. I won't tell more but any lover of historical fiction will find it hard to put this book down.