The fourth installment of Bernard Cornwell's New York Times
bestselling series chronicling the epic saga of the making of England,
"like Game of Thrones, but real" (The Observer, London)--the basis for
The Last Kingdom, the hit television series.
The year is 885, and England is at peace, divided between the Danish
kingdom to the north and the Saxon kingdom of Wessex in the south.
Warrior by instinct and Viking by nature, Uhtred, the dispossessed son
of a Northumbrian lord, has land, a wife and children--and a duty to
King Alfred to hold the frontier on the Thames. But a dead man has
risen, and new Vikings have invaded the decayed Roman city of London
with dreams of conquering Wessex... with Uhtred's help. Suddenly forced
to weigh his oath to the king against the dangerous turning tide of
shifting allegiances and deadly power struggles, Uhtred--Alfred's
sharpest sword--must now make the choice that will determine England's
future.