Bernard Cornwell - The Last Kingdom Series Books 1–8 - The Last Kingdom, The Pale Horseman, The Lords of the North, Sword Song, The Burning Land, Death of Kings, The Pagan Lord, The Empty Throne

These novels are entirely works of fiction. The names, characters and incidents portrayed in them, while at times based on historical figures, are the work of the author’s imagination.

HarperCollins Publishers Ltd.

1 London Bridge Street

London SE1 9GF

www.harpercollins.co.uk

The Last Kingdom first published in Great Britain by HarperCollinsPublishers 2004

The Pale Horseman first published in Great Britain by HarperCollins Publishers 2005

The Lords of the North first published in Great Britain by HarperCollins Publishers 2006

Sword Song first published in Great Britain by HarperCollins Publishers 2007

The Burning Land first published in Great Britain by HarperCollins Publishers 2009

Death of Kings first published in Great Britain by HarperCollins Publishers 2011

The Pagan Lord first published in Great Britain by HarperCollins Publishers 2013

The Empty Throne first published in Great Britain by HarperCollins Publishers 2014

Copyright © Bernard Cornwell 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2013, 2014

Cover layout design © HarperCollins Publishers 2015

Bernard Cornwell asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of these works

A catalogue record for these books are available from the British Library

All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this ebook on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, down-loaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins ebooks

HarperCollins Publishers has made every reasonable effort to ensure that any picture content and written content in this ebook has been included or removed in accordance with the contractual and technological constraints in operation at the time of publication

Ebook Edition © ISBN: 9780008159658

Version: 2017-10-23

Contents

Cover

Title Page THE LAST KINGDOM SERIES Books 1-8

Copyright

THE LAST KINGDOM

THE PALE HORSEMAN

THE LORDS OF THE NORTH

SWORD SONG

THE BURNING LAND

DEATH OF KINGS

THE PAGAN LORD

THE EMPTY THRONE

Keep Reading

About the Author

Also by Bernard Cornwell

About the Publisher

This novel is entirely a work of fiction. The names, characters and incidents portrayed in it, while at times based on historical figures, are the work of the author’s imagination.

HarperCollins Publishers Ltd.

1 London Bridge Street

London SE1 9GF

www.harpercollins.co.uk

First published in Great Britain by HarperCollins Publishers 2004

Copyright © Bernard Cornwell 2004

Bernard Cornwell asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this work.

A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.

All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this ebook on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins ebooks

HarperCollins Publishers has made every reasonable effort to ensure that any picture content and written content in this ebook has been included or removed in accordance with the contractual and technological constraints in operation at the time of publication

Source ISBN: 9780007218011

Ebook Edition © July 2009 ISBN: 9780007338818

Version: 2017-05-25

THE LAST KINGDOM

is for Judy, with love

Wyrd bið ful ãræd

CONTENTS

Cover

Title Page

Copyright

Dedication

Map

Place-names

Prologue: NORTHUMBRIA, 866–867 AD

Part One: A PAGAN CHILDHOOD

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Part Two: THE LAST KINGDOM

Chapter Seven

Chapter Eight

Chapter Nine

Part Three: THE SHIELD WALL

Chapter Ten

Chapter Eleven

Historical Note

The spelling of place-names in Anglo-Saxon England was an uncertain business, with no consistency and no agreement even about the name itself. Thus London was variously rendered as Lundonia, Lundenberg, Lundenne, Lundene, Lundenwic, Lundenceaster and Lundres. Doubtless some readers will prefer other versions of the names listed below, but I have usually employed whatever spelling is cited in the Oxford Dictionary of English Place-Names for the years nearest or contained within Alfred’s reign, 871–899 AD, but even that solution is not foolproof. Hayling Island, in 956, was written as both Heilincigae and Hæglingaiggæ. Nor have I been consistent myself; I have preferred the modern England to Englaland and, instead of Norðhymbralond, have used Northumbria to avoid the suggestion that the boundaries of the ancient kingdom coincide with those of the modern county. So this list, like the spellings themselves, is capricious: