The Last Kingdom

The Saxon Chronicles, Book 1

By: Bernard Cornwell

Narrated by: Jamie Glover

Length: 5 hrs and 30 mins

Publisher's summary

From Bernard Cornwell, the New York Times best-selling author whom the Washington Post calls "perhaps the greatest writer of historical adventure novels today", comes a saga of blood, rage, fidelity, and betrayal. In the ninth and 10th centuries, King Alfred and his heirs fought to secure the survival of the last outpost of Anglo-Saxon culture by battling the ferocious Vikings, whose invading warriors had already captured and occupied three of England's four kingdoms.

In AD 866, Uhtred, a boy of 10 and the son of a nobleman, is captured in the same battle that leaves his father dead. His captor is the Earl Ragnar, a Danish chieftain, who raises the boy as his own, teaching him the Viking ways of war. As a young man expected to partake in raids and bloody massacres of the English, he grapples with divided loyalties, torn between Ragnar, the warrior he loves like a father, and Alfred, whose piety and introspection leave him cold. It takes a terrible slaughter and the unexpected joys of marriage for Uhtred to discover his true allegiance, and to rise to his greatest challenge.

Ready for battle? Don't miss the rest of the Saxon Chronicles Series, including The Pale Horseman (Book 2), Lords of the North (Book 3), and Sword Song (Book 4).

©2005 Bernard Cornwell (P)2005 2005 HarperCollins Publishers, Inc.

Critic reviews

"A solid adventure by a crackling good storyteller." ( Publishers Weekly)

"Cornwell deserves praise for his mesmerizing narrative finesse and his authentic historical detailing....[An] irresistible epic adventure." ( Booklist)

Great story, well told, would highly recommend.

This is a well written book for this genera. The story seems to put legendary characters and make a great story of the tensions between them and develops their true character.

The first great

Enthralling introduction into a series that grows with a greater story and saga. Doesn’t disappoint

Great Historical Fiction!

Cornwell writes exceedingly well. His historical novels are, usually, excellent and compelling with well-drawn heroes and dastardly villains. Cornwell's narrative style is often gripping and heavily laced with known historical nuances. Simply put, Cornwell combines imaginative storytelling with historical detail that "sells" the story in such a way that it often proves difficult to separate actual fact from fancy, which can be great fun. Never a disappointment, Cornwell deftly creates a backstory which often facilitates an intensely immersive listening experience. In addition, Cornwell's "Grail" series featuring 3 parts which includes (in order) "The Archer's Tale" "Vagabond" and "Heretic" are triumphant examples of historical narrative with superb adventure storytelling and sympathetic characters engaged in great struggles of class, character and conscience. Sometimes "dry" on-paper, Cornwell is a magnificent "listen!"

Series for guys

This series takes place in an interesting time in history and the author has devised a way to have one character tell about both the Saxons and the Danes (Vikings). Interesting, pretty well written, but too much battle.

A wonderful history lesson

Where does The Last Kingdom rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

At the top of my list in Historical Fiction

What did you like best about this story?

Travelling through the eyes of Euthred there is a gripping awareness of what life and death, poverty and priviledge, loyalty and betrayal, was really like during that tumultuous period of English hisitory.

What about Jamie Glover’s performance did you like?

As he opened doors on critical events and led us in alongside the characters, in an artful and subtle way, the intersity of his voice created a feeling of reality.

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

No extreme reaction just "a close up and personal feeling " of what it must have been like in a "shield wall".

Any additional comments?

The combination of Cornwall & Jamie Glover is irresistible.The only tiny glitch was an occasional mix up of Welsh, Irish and Cornish dialects

Sadly disappointed

I had high hopes for this book, hoping it would be the first of a stream of novels I would delight in. Many days of enthralling entertainment awaited me. The Last Kingdom delivered abundant action and vivid descriptions of action battles, and events from an intriguing historical period. However it was thin in character development, and the absence of secondary plots was noticeable. The story leaps from one year to the next, missing clear opportunities to give detail and engage the reader. The focus is strictly on the action. It should please younger audiences, but falls short for those seeking insight into a forgotten world. Paradoxically, more of it is gleaned from reading Martin or Tolkien, but this is no Song of Fire and Ice, nor Lord of the Rings.

Excellent entrance to a long journey

This is my first introduction to Cromwell's writing, having watched all of the TV adaptation of "The Last Kingdom" previously. Cromwell's story is exciting, and his plot is punctuated by thrilling action sequences and scenes of dialogue that do most of the heavy lifting in revealing the characters. I thoroughly enjoyed seeing more of Utred's early years, which are largely glossed over in the show. The scenes between Utred and King Alfred in particular crackle with tension. If I had one gripe against this story, it's that I don't know if I would enjoy it as much if I didn't already know the characters. But I do, and I did. Can't wait to start the next one.

Excellent Story

I enjoyed this book. I had seen the Television series and liked it a lot. I decided to listen to the books while traveling. You can't help but love the main character due to his impulsive behavior. As a child taken when he was old enough to understand that religion limited his freedom, and thrust him into a world where freedom was a way of life, he straddles both worlds incompletely. Definitely worth the listen!

Vikings vs. Saxons! Sex, Blood, & Rock N' Roll!!

I have known about Bernard Cornwell for quite some time but only when I saw the premise of "The Last Kingdom" did I finally bite: and now I'm addicted!

This is a real "Guy's Tale": if you loved the film "Braveheart" you'll love "The Last Kingdom". Gory details about the sword & axe battles; the burning & looting of villages; the scams & schemes from both the Danish & the English lords; the kidnapping and enslaving of the defeated. On top of all that the narrator is top-notch and I even laughed out loud at many of the little jokes thrown in between the heavy action!

I am downloading the 2nd book in this trilogy ASAP: "The Pale Horseman", and I'm thrilled to learn that the final part, "The Lords of The North" has just been released in the U.K. and will be in the USA in early '07!

Can't wait to hear the next round of blood spilling, gut churning, butt-kicking adventures of Utread Utreadsson!

The Last Kingdom

Jamie Glover did a super job narrating this book. I did this series backward and had been looking the first book in the series(The Last Kingdom) for sometime. As soon as I saw that Audible had it I downloaded it. This book and series covers the 866 a.d. in England when the Saxon and Danish were at war for control of all England. Bernard Cornwell is in my opinion, the best writer of battle scenes. He brings the battle to life, you feel as if you are there and can hear, smell and feel the battle raging around you. This series took me to the history books to learn more about this time in history.