Cornwell, Bernard

Uhtred, a dispossessed young nobleman, born a Saxon but raised by the Vikings, forms an uneasy alliance with King Alfred the Great to fight for Wessex when the kingdom is attacked by the Danish Vikings in the ninth century.

When a priceless manuscript goes missing, suspicion falls on Richard Shakespeare, the estranged brother of the famous author, forcing him down a perilous path through London.

At the end of the ninth century, the Danes see a chance for victory and attack King Alfred of Wessex, who is ill; after Uhtred, Alfred's reluctant warlord, defeats the Vikings, he turns his back on service to the Saxon king and joins the Vikings with the intent of reclaiming his ancestral fortress.

"Britain is in a state of uneasy peace. Northumbria's Viking ruler, Sigtryggr, and Mercia's Saxon Queen Aethelflaed have agreed a truce. And so England's greatest warrior, Uhtred of Bebbanburg, at last has the chance to take back the home his traitorous uncle stole from him so many years ago-and which his scheming cousin still occupies"--Jacket flap.

"At the onset of the tenth century, England is in turmoil. Alfred the Great is dead and Edward his son reigns as king. Loyalties will be divided and men will fall, as every Saxon kingdom is drawn into the bloodiest battle yet with the Danes; a war which will decide the fate of every king, and the entire English nation"--Provided by publisher.

At the end of the ninth century, Alfred the Great is on his death bed and unified England is on the brink of chaos, and Saxon-born, Viking-raised warrior Uhtred is forced to choose between his vows to Alfred and England or to lay down his sword to reclaim his long-lost ancestral lands in the north.

Presents a fictionalized account of Uhtred, the son of an English nobleman, kidnapped by a Danish chieftain, Earl Ragnar, in A.D. 866, during the Vikings wars against England.

Captain Richard Sharpe is given responsibility for a poorly trained and ill-equipped Irish battalion of the King of Spain. Britain's hopes of victory in Spain depend on Sharpe's ability to combat an elite French guard headed by the vengeful Brigadier General Guy Loup.

With a fragile peace between Wessex, Mercia, and East Anglia loyalties and ambitions are put to the test when forces gather against the kingdom's greatest warrior, Uhtred of Bebbanburg.