Bernard Cornwell

This is the story of the making of England in the 9th and 10th centuries, the years in which King Alfred the Great, his son and grandson defeated the Danish Vikings who had invaded and occupied three of England's four kingdoms. The story is seen through the eyes of Uhtred, a dispossessed nobleman, who is captured as a child by the Danes and then raised by them so that, by the time the Northmen begin their assault on Wessex (Alfred's kingdom and the...

Uhtred has been made Governor of London while Alfred, building fortified towns to hold Wesssex, pushes into Mercia.

The Danes of East Anglia and the Vikings of Northumbria are plotting the conquest of all Britain. When King Alfred's daughter pleads with Uhtred for help, he cannot refuse her request. In a desperate gamble, he takes command of a demoralized Mercian army, leading them in an unforgettable battle on a blood-soaked field beside the Thames.

In the heart of Elizabethan England, Richard Shakespeare dreams of a glittering career in one of the London playhouses, a world dominated by his older brother, William. But he is a penniless actor, making ends meet through a combination of a beautiful face, petty theft and a silver tongue. As William's star rises, Richard's onetime gratitude is souring and he is sorely tempted to abandon family loyalty. So when a priceless manuscript goes missing,...

"My name is Uhtred. I am the son of Uhtred, who was the son of Uhtred . . ." Britain, early tenth century AD: a time of change. There are new raids by the Vikings from Ireland, and turmoil among the Saxons over the leadership of Mercia. A younger generation is taking over. Aethelred, the ruler of Mercia, is dying, leaving no legitimate heir. The West Saxons want their king, but Uhtred has long supported Athelflaed, sister to King Edward of Wessex...

A sharp, skilled and utterly fearless archer in the army of King Edward III, young Thomas of Hookton has been making his way through France for three years now, fighting fiercely alongside the English troops. But being a soldier in the great Hundred Years War is only a means to an end: Thomas of Hookton is hot on the trails of the man who brutally slaughtered his father and stole his only treasure-rumored to be the Holy Grail-from the ancient church...

A fugitive English forester and mercenary defender saves young novitiate Melisande and, defending himself from a vengeance-seeking rapist priest and Melisande's father, finds himself slogging his way to Agincourt as an archer in King Henry V's army.

The tale begins in Dark Age Britain, a land where Arthur has been banished and Merlin has disappeared, where a child-king sits unprotected on the throne, where religion vies with magic for the souls of the people. It is to this desperate land that Arthur returns, a man at once utterly human and truly heroic: a man of honor, loyalty, and amazing valor; a man who loves Guinevere more passionately than he should; a man whose life is at once tragic...

Uhtred is a Saxon, cheated of his inheritance and adrift in a world of fire, sword, and treachery. He has to make a choice: whether to fight for the Vikings, who raised him, or for King Alfred the Great of Wessex, who dislikes him. In the late ninth century, Wessex is the last English kingdom. The rest have fallen to the Danish Vikings, a story told in The Last Kingdom, the New York Times bestselling novel in which Uhtred's tale began. Now the Vikings...

Excalibur is a monumental story of love and war. Betrayed by his true love, Guinevere, Arthur must face his enemies -- who were once his friends -- in final, mortal combat. He must also face his most daunting challenge of all. Merlin has made a terrible pact with Mordred, Arthur's sworn enemy, to summon the gods and the power the gods possess. Arthur's success at stopping them, even his survival, is anything but certain. But winning when all seems...