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The final Last Kingdom book was published in 2020, but for the author the story felt unfinished: there were some Uhtred tales he still wanted to tell, and over the course of writing the books he’d become fascinated by some elements of the Anglo-Saxon world that it wasn’t possible to fully explore in the novels. The Saxon Stories are arguably Bernard Cornwell's greatest work (and having read his entire output I certainly think they are), and in Uhtred, he has created not only one of his greatest characters, but one of the great characters of English literature, fully deserving to be mentioned in the same breath as many of the classics. While the books, as popular historical fiction, will never win 'literary' prizes, the quality is by no means inferior, and the absence of pretention compared to many (not all, but many) such 'literary' novels frankly works in their favour. A remarkable achievement, they will stand the test of time for their storytelling, their atmosphere, frequent jabs of sardonic humour, extraordinary battle-scenes (nobody has ever written them even remotely as well as Cornwell) and generally wonderful characterisation. Although not perfect, even the slightly weaker offerings stand up well. So it was nice to see one last return to Uhtred's world, in the slightly unusual form of a book including three short stories, what amount to a short essay or two, and a series of recipies. Cornwell was born in London in 1944. His father was a Canadian airman, and his mother, who was English, a member of the Women's Auxiliary Air Force. He was adopted and brought up in Essex by the Wiggins family, who were members of the Peculiar People, a strict Protestant sect who banned frivolity of all kinds and even medicine. After he left them, he changed his name to his birth mother's maiden name, Cornwell. The three short stories by Cornwell were quite nice. If you want more of Uhtred's adventures, we can see him as a young boy, as a mature and solid warlord and in his last shield wall at around 85 years of age. As the book states at the start, in terms of the history of the times, England did NOT start at 1066, as we are still discovering through various archaeological digs throughout the country. In the small town where I live the evidence of an Iron Age settlement has recently been found, a Roman villa once existed, we know the area was previously ruled over by King Raedwald of Sutton Hoo fame, and John of Gaunt (the son of King Edward111) had estates close by! So much for William the Conqueror, who largely simply ravaged the area, leaving almost nothing behind! It's fascinating stuff, and not just about the hard-fought battles of the heroes of the times.
Fictional history is not real history, novelists leave that to real historians, but our books must be authentic, and authenticity is in the mundane details: What did they wear? How did they travel? What did they eat?’
The Last Kingdom is one of the most successful historical fiction series of our time. The novels tell the epic story of the birth of England and introduces one of the greatest ever fictional heroes: the iconic Uhtred of Bebbanburg, the Saxon-born, Norse-raised warrior and rebel. In this lively compendium, Bernard Cornwell revisits Uhtred’s realm, illuminating elements of the Anglo-Saxon world he couldn’t fully explore in his novels.
The publisher said: “When Bernard Cornwell’s The Last Kingdom (HarperCollins) was published in 2004, it was the beginning of a series that would reach millions of readers, tell the epic story of the birth of England, and forge one of the greatest ever fictional heroes: the iconic Uhtred of Bebbanburg. The final Last Kingdom novel published in 2020, but for Bernard Cornwell the story felt unfinished: there were Uhtred tales he still wanted to tell, and over the course of writing the novels he’d become fascinated by the rich social history of the Anglo-Saxons. Salting has also been used for thousands of years. Soon after the Romans came to England in AD 43 they started developing saltworks along the east coast. …Later, Hellath du got the Anglo-Saxon name Northwich, meaning 'northern saltworks'. (The Anglo- Saxons called a saltwork a 'wich', so any place in England with 'wich' at the end at one time produced salt.)’ HarperCollins has landed a “fascinating” companion to The Last Kingdom series by Bernard Cornwell and chef Suzanne Pollak.
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The first section provided a fascinating introduction of a brief overview of the history of England. This was especially with regards to how it tied in with the Last Kingdom books. It is wonderful to be provided with the author's thoughts and feelings towards this character that we have all grown to love so much. This book gave Cornwell the opportunity to investigate further into the day to day living of the time. My name is Uhtred. I am the son of Uhtred, who was the son of Uhtred and his father was also called Uhtred . . .
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