The master of historical fiction presents the iconic story of King Alfred and the making of a nation.Alfred, the great king, is said to be dying. Rivals for his succession are poised to tear the kingdom apart. The country Alfred has worked thirty years to build is about to disintegrate.Uhtred, the King’s warrior, Viking born but Saxon bred, wants more than anything else to go and fight to reclaim his stolen Northumbrian inheritance. But he knows that if he deserts the King’s cause, Alfred’s dream – and indeed the very future of the English nation – will very likely vanish.Death of Kings is an outstanding novel by a master storyteller of how England was made – and very nearly lost.
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Bernard Cornwell. Death of Kings
DEATH OF KINGS
BERNARD CORNWELL
Copyright
The Royal Family of Wessex
PLACE NAMES
PART ONE. The Sorceress
One
Two
Three
Four
Five
PART TWO. Death of a King
Six
Seven
Eight
PART THREE. Angels
Nine
Ten
PART FOUR. Death in Winter
Eleven
Twelve
Thirteen
Historical Note
UHTRED OF BEBBANBURG RETURNS …
About the Author
Also by Bernard Cornwell
About the Publisher
Отрывок из книги
DEATH OF KINGS
is for Anne LeClaire,
.....
‘Cnut and Sigurd won’t attack now,’ I said, ‘but in the spring, maybe.’ Cnut and Sigurd were Danes from Northumbria and, like all the Danes, their abiding dream was to capture all the lands where English was spoken. The invaders had tried again and again, and again and again they had failed, yet another attempt was inevitable because the heart of Wessex, which was the great bastion of Saxon Christendom, was failing. Alfred was dying, and his death would surely bring pagan swords and heathen fire to Mercia and to Wessex. ‘But why would Cnut or Sigurd attack Eohric?’ I asked. ‘They don’t want East Anglia, they want Mercia and Wessex.’
‘They want everything,’ Ceolnoth or Ceolberht answered.
