The twelfth installment of Bernard Cornwell's New York Times bestselling series chronicling the epic saga of the making of England--"superior entertainment that is both engaging and enlightening" (Washington Post), and the basis for The Last Kingdom, the hit Netflix series.It is a time of political turmoil once more in the 10th centuryas the fading King Edward begins to lose control over his successors and theirsupporters. There are two potential heirs--possibly more--and doubt over whetherthe once separate states of Wessex and Mercia will hold together. Despiteattempts at pulling him into the political fray, Uhtred of Bebbanburg caressolely about his beloved Northumbria and its continuing independence fromsouthern control. But an oath is a strong, almost sacred commitment andsuch a promise had been exchanged between Uhtred and Aethelstan, his onetimecompanion in arms and now a potential king. Uhtred was tempted to ignore thedemands of the oath and stay in his northern fastness, leaving the quarrellingAnglo-Saxons to sort out their own issues. But an attack on him by aleading supporter of one of the candidates and an unexpected appeal for helpfrom another, drives Uhtred with a small band of warriors south, into the battlefor kingship--and England's fate.