The Last Kingdom cover art

The Last Kingdom

The Last Kingdom Series, Book 1

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The Last Kingdom

By: Bernard Cornwell
Narrated by: Jonathan Keeble
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About this listen

The first book in a brand-new series, The Last Kingdom is set in England during the reign of King Alfred.

Uhtred is an English boy, born into the aristocracy of ninth-century Northumbria. Orphaned at 10, he is captured and adopted by a Dane and taught the Viking ways. Yet Uhtred's fate is indissolubly bound up with Alfred, King of Wessex, who rules over the only English kingdom to survive the Danish assault.

The struggle between the English and the Danes and the strife between christianity and paganism is the background to Uhtred's growing up. He is left uncertain of his loyalties but a slaughter in a winter dawn propels him to the English side and he will become a man just as the Danes launch their fiercest attack yet on Alfred's kingdom. Marriage ties him further still to the West Saxon cause but when his wife and child vanish in the chaos of the Danish invasion, Uhtred is driven to face the greatest of the Viking chieftains in a battle beside the sea. There, in the horror of the shield-wall, he discovers his true allegiance.

The Last Kingdom, like most of Bernard Cornwell's books, is firmly based on true history. It is the first novel of a series that will tell the tale of Alfred the Great and his descendants and of the enemies they faced, Viking warriors like Ivar the Boneless and his feared brother, Ubba. Against their lives Bernard Cornwell has woven a story of divided loyalties, reluctant love, and desperate heroism. In Uhtred, he has created one of his most interesting and heroic characters and in The Last Kingdom one of his most powerful and passionate novels.

©2004 Bernard Cornwell (P)2014 HarperCollins Publishers Limited
Genre Fiction Historical Thriller & Suspense War & Military Emotionally Gripping

Critic Reviews

"Cornwell is a virtuoso of historical fiction." ( Sunday Telegraph)
"Bernard Cornwell is a literary miracle. Year after year, hail, rain, snow, war and political upheavals fail to prevent him from producing the most entertaining and readable historical novels of his generation." ( Daily Mail)
"Cornwell's narration is quite masterly and supremely well-researched." ( Observer)
All stars
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I'm already a fan and I will be listening to more by this author. Loved it.

A ripping story read wonderfully.

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A very enjoyable listen, the narration is spot on. I recommend this title to anyone who enjoys sword fights, British history and tales of Vikings.

The narrator is brilliant.

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This was totally different to what i expected and different to what I usually listen to. enjoyed the story line and found narration really easy to listen to

different

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Read this book twice, now I have listened to it in audible. Love the story and read well. Highly recommend this novel and series of books by Bernard Cornwell.

Brilliant

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Absolutely fantastic, I have converted majority of friends towards Audible and the have listened to many of the books written by Bernard Cornwell and blown away by the details, history and the narrator!
Keep up the great work! Love it 😊

The last kingdom

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Masterfully narrated. Brilliant historical drama. A story you will not want to stop listening to. Can’t wait to start the next volume.

Incredible story telling

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Such a great story and so beautifully narrated! Highly recommend for those that love historical fiction.

Wonderful

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Love it. Works a treat for me and retains momentum throughout. Cornwall simply knows how to so it well. Destiny is all...right.

Aaaahhhhh......

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This book series is very well written. Eouc battles,intricate plots.. gorgeous characters. Narration is phenomenal. Too bad I can only give 5 stars

A great "read"

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Having enjoyed the Viking series, this tale has me hooked. Visceral in its descriptions of battle scenes and insightful in its accounts of day to day life, we follow the young orphans adventures where the lure of warfare appeals more than the ink and parchment and regulations of a holy direction. Valhalla over Heaven, Denmark over England... that's his quandary.

Action Packed Brutal

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