The twelfth installment of Bernard Cornwell's New York Times
bestselling series chronicling the epic saga of the making of
England--"superior entertainment that is both engaging and enlightening"
(Washington Post), and the basis for The Last Kingdom, the hit
Netflix series.
It is a time of political turmoil once more as the fading King Edward
begins to lose control over his successors and their supporters. There
are two potential heirs--possibly more--and doubt over whether the once
separate states of Wessex and Mercia will hold together . Despite
attempts at pulling him into the political fray, Uhtred of Bebbanburg
cares solely about his beloved Northumbria and its continuing
independence from southern control.
But an oath is a strong, almost sacred commitment and such a promise had
been exchanged between Uhtred and Aethelstan, his onetime companion in
arms and now a potential king. Uhtred was tempted to ignore the demands
of the oath and stay in his northern fastness, leaving the quarrelling
Anglo-Saxons to sort out their own issues. But an attack on him by a
leading supporter of one of the candidates and an unexpected appeal for
help from another, drives Uhtred with a small band of warriors south,
into the battle for kingship--and England's fate.
