The Pagan Lord: Book 7 (The Last Kingdom Series) - Hardcover

THE PAGAN LORD – 'The Times books of the Year 2013' pick

'A tense, powerful and compulsive story' THE TIMES

'Strong narrative, vigourous action and striking characterisation, Cornwell remains king of the territory he has staked out as his own' SUNDAY TIMES

'Blood, divided loyalties and thundering battles' THE TIMES

'A violent, absorbing historical saga, deeply researched and thoroughly imagined' WASHINGTON POST

Praise for Bernard Cornwell:

‘The best battle scenes of any writer I’ve ever read, past or present. Cornwell really makes history come alive’ George R.R. Martin

‘Cornwell draws a fascinating picture of England as it might have been before anything like England existed’ THE TIMES

‘He’s called a master storyteller. Really he’s cleverer than that’ TELEGRAPH

‘A reminder of just how good a writer he is’ SUNDAY TIMES

‘Nobody in the world does this better than Cornwell’ Lee Child

This is a magnificent and gory work' Daily Mail

'The historical blockbuster of the year' EVENING STANDARD

‘A runaway success’ OBSERVER

‘A master of storytelling’ SUNDAY TELEGRAPH

This is typical Cornwell, meticulously researched, massive in scope, brilliant in execution’ NEWS OF THE WORLD

The seventh novel in Bernard Cornwell’s number one bestselling series on the making of England and the fate of his great hero, Uhtred of Bebbanburg.

BBC2’s major Autumn 2015 TV show THE LAST KINGDOM is based on the first two books in the series.

The years after King Alfred’s death are peaceful: the Danes rule in northern Britain, the Saxons hold the south. But for a warrior, a time of restless peace is the hardest challenge. Too often, it allows the cautious and the timid to dominate.

Uhtred, a celebrated warrior of the late King Alfred, is out of favour with the new regime, and in one ill-considered moment of rage he is thrown off his land and banished. He becomes an outcast, spurned by Christians and Pagans alike. Supported by a handful of loyal men, Uhtred goes north in a daring attempt to recapture Bebbanburg, his ancestral home and the greatest fortress of Britain.

But elsewhere, the uneasy peace is breaking. Cnut Longsword, most feared and savage of all the Danish lords, rises in fury at the capture of his wife and heir. All the kingdoms are dragged into a bloody war which will decide whether there will be an England or a Daneland. Northumbrians, East Anglians, Mercians and West Saxons will meet in a climactic battle. And it is Uhtred, lord of outcasts, whose fate is to decide when and where that battle will be fought.