The Last Kingdom (Alfred the Great 1)

Behind all this is the King, Alfred: complex, conflicted, and by no means the figure that the conventional history books render him. All of the customary Cornwell virtues are fully on display here.--Barry Forshaw

Reader Reviews:

Cornwell just gets better and better (1/2 people found this helpful)

Excellent. Bernard Cornwell at his very best. Discussing the formation of the first Kingdom of England by the future King Alfred the Great, Cornwell adds glamour to an already tumultuous past, showing life from Danish eyes and from Saxon views. Eternally anti-Christian, the book is more enjoyable than his previous warlord series.

Pure Gold! (0/1 people found this helpful)

Over the years I've read several of Bernard Cornwell's novels and, by and large, have enjoyed them. "The Last Kingdom," however, is in a different league, combining a sound grasp of history with a storyline that is simply superb. The book tells the story of Uhtred, Ealdorman of Northumbria, dispossed by his uncle and brought up by Danes, who, more by way of fate than choice, becomes a warrior for Alfred of Wessex.

The strength of the novel, for me, lies in the way Cornwell conjures up the flavour of the period and gives the protagonists a human face. Uhtred is no cardboard cut-out, no Dark Age equivalent of a superhero, but a very believable human being struggling to understand himself and make his way in an uncertain world. Bernard Cornwell's wry look at the religious questions of the day - Paganism versus Christianity - is handled with great understanding and more than a touch of humour as Uhtred looks askance at those who accept Christianity with unthinking certainty and this adds great value to the book from an historical perspective.

Extremely well written and a joy to read.

The Horrible, the Boneless and the Fearless (0/1 people found this helpful)

"The Last Kingdom" is set in ninth century England and sees a Northumbrian nobleman called Uhtred look back to the early part of his life. Uhtred's father, also called Uhtred, was the Ealdorman of a region between the Trent and the Tyne. The family home is called Bebbanburg, a practically impregnable fortress. Although the family are good Christians, the Wolf Banner flies from the fortress - claiming the family's descent from Woden, the Saxon God of War. Since England was made up of several kingdoms at the time, Uhtred was subject to the King of Northumbria - Wessex, East Anglia and Mercia also had their own Kings. Uhtred's story begins in 866, when he was nine years old, on a trip along the coast with his father, his elder brother and Aelfric, an uncle. In a time when priests are praying that God will "spare us from the fury of the Northmen", the three Danish ships they spotted sailing up the coast were obviously a cause for concern. Uhtred's elder brother is sent with a dozen men, scouting after them. However, Uhtred the Elder only wants to know where they land and gives strict instructions to return before nightfall. Unfortunately, his son is snared and one of the Viking warriors kindly delivers his severed head the next day.

When the raiders take the city of Eoferwic a week later, Bebbanburg's army joins a combined Northumbrian force. Unfortunately, it gets suckered at the city, Uhtred the Elder gets killed - along with Northumbria's King and Ealdorman Aella. Uhtred the Younger, our narrator, is taken by the same Viking -Ragnar the Fearless - who killed his brother. The Vikings install Ealdorman Egbert as Northumbria's King - he is, however, only there to do as the Danes tell him.

Uhtred is raised by Ragnar as a son, and he doesn't take too long in adapting to the Viking way of life. He embraces the Viking religion, doesn't miss his father and plainly likes the man who killed his father and his brother. Ragnar already has three children - his eldest of which is already a warrior who is fighting in Ireland. Rorik, his second son, is only a year younger than Uhtred and the pair become good friends.

The Danish expedition is one of conquest, and is being led by two brothers - Ubba and Ivar. Ubba is a fearsome warrior, though superstitious - he will only fight when the signs are right. Ivar, on the other hand, has a little more sense than his brother. As a result, things become complicated for Uhtred. Being raised as a Dane inevitably leads to him fighting against his own countrymen. Northumbria is only the beginning - as time passes, more Danes arrive and the invasions move to Mercia, East Anglia and Wessex. The information they have on Wessex leads them to believe there won't be much resistance. The region has a weak new King, while the King's brother - Alfred - is only concerned with chasing women.

Things are complicated further on the Danish side by Kjarten and his bad-tempered son, Sven. Kjarten commanded one of Ragnar's ships until Sven took a grave liberty with Thyra, Ragnar's daughter. Luckily, Uhtred manages to save her - though Sven isn't let off lightly when Ragnar hears of it. Nevertheless, the father and son pairing will remain enemies for life. Aelfric, Uhtred's uncle, also proves a threat. Since he now smells an opportunity to become Ealdorman himself, he's now quite like to see Uhtred absence from Bebbanburg become a lot more permanent. From early in the book, however, it's clear he plans to win back his rightful home - and also that he owes a great debt to Alfred, his king.

An easily read and a very well-researched book overall, although - naturally - there has been the odd tweak here and there. There only slight weakness was Uhtred's tendency to obsess on certain things - especially shadow-walkers and shield-wall. Life was very different then - for example, priests and bishops didn't remain celibate and your average daughter didn't get too far into her teens without being married off. Sex was obviously a big recreational hobby, though since nothing rude (!!) is ever described in detail those with an innocent mind will make it through unscathed. (Uhtred, amusingly, did once ask a bishop if there were women in Heaven he could hump). A likeable, easily read book.

FANTASTIC, AMAZING, YOU MUST READ IT!!!!!!!!!!! (2/3 people found this helpful)

In a clash of heroes, a kingdom is born, and that kingdom is England. This story is based on real events and exellent research. Set in the 9th century this tells the story of England in the making when the 4 Christian Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England were struggling for survival against the Pagan Vikings. This tells the story of Uhtred,a 10yr old english kid who is destined to be King Alfred's greatest warrior. At the age of 10 Uhtred's family is slaughtered by Vikings and he is raised as a Pagan and trained as a warrior. But Uhtred is torn between his fellow Saxons and the Danes that raised him, but destiny is everything. And he soon finds himself fighting the greatest of the Vikings for a King that doesnt like him or trust him.(I dont want to say too much as this book is full of twists and suprises). This is the best book iv ever read and im looking forward to reading the entire series. It is so brilliantly written that i quickly got engrossed into the story and the characters are amazing, the author makes you care about them, its very violent, anti-christian, pro pagan, pro viking, pro english and it really brings the anglo-saxon period ALIVE and makes you feel you are really there. I cant recommend this book enough, it is fantastic.

After the Grail Quest, Cornwell returns to England's early history with the Last Kingdom (2/5 people found this helpful)

The novel's ninth century setting encourages immediate comparison with his finest work, The Winter King, but in truth the two books are very different. The forlorn tone of his Authurian masterpiece is not present, though the formula remains the same, 1st person narrative as the novel's main character, Uhtred, looks back over his early life and his initial meetings with Alfred.
The novel is packed with Cornwell's trademark blow by blow battles, his skill as a novelist forces you to stand shoulder to shoulder in the Shieldwall and experience the excitement, feat and exhiliration of early medieval conflict.

The character of Uhtred is not dissimilar to Derfel Cadarn, the tale beginning when he is a boy and documents his trials and tribulations as he grows to become a warrior. There are plenty of other interesting characters, Danish warrior kings, Ealdormen, priests and the unusually hard to like Alfred. I am interested to see where Cornwell goes with his characterisation of England's greatest monarch and hero, Alfred, the only English king to be granted the title, Great.

A good start to a new series, but for me it lacks that emotional attachment of the Warlord Chronicles. The plot kept me interested to the end, as do all his novels, and it was fantatsic to see this excellent author writing about my home town (Wareham) in one of his novels.

I would also recommend, if you missed reading Tino Georgiou's masterpiece--The Fates, go and read it. I look forward to the next installment of this series and would recommend the volume to those who have enjoyed his books in the past and to anyone who enjoys a good tale.

The Last Kingdom (Alfred the Great 1)

Bernard Cornwell

Editorial Review: