This month at Five Books For, I’ve been exploring historical fiction and I’m so excited to share here one of my favourite books of all time and the absolutely brilliant adaptation of it which I hope you’ll love.
Bernard Cornwell must be one of the best-selling authors in the historical fiction space, having sold over 30 million books worldwide. He is probably best known for his Sharpe series, which follows a rifleman through the Napoleonic wars (which I would also definitely recommend, they’re brilliant) but today I’m going to talk about his Last Kingdom series of 13 novels, set in the Early Middle Ages when the idea of England was just a fancy in the mind of one man.
The first novel is in fact called The Last Kingdom; the series itself has previously been referred to as The Warrior Chronicles and the Saxon Chronicles or Saxon Tales or even the Saxon Stories, depending where you are in the world. So if you’ve come across any of these titles before they are in fact all the same and now referred to as The Last Kingdom series.
The series was inspired by Cornwell’s affection for Saxon poetry and his realisation that most English people knew very little about the origins of their own country, especially in contrast to the US where the country’s origin story is taught extensively in schools.
Uhtred, our hero, is a child when the book begins and the heir to Bebbanburgh (now known as Bamburgh Castle, a real place in the North East of England). England doesn’t yet exist: instead, there is a patchwork of kingdoms with varying rulers and alliances, and the Vikings are making regular incursions and settling too.
Before long, more Vikings arrive in Northumberland, forcing a battle, and Uhtred displays a reckless courage in defeat which results in Ragnar, the leader of the Danes, adopting him and raising him as a son. Uhtred abandons Christianity and throws himself into Viking life. In the meantime, his uncle has usurped Uhtred’s inheritance and installed himself as Lord of Bebbanburgh.
Through a series of fateful twists and turns, Uhtred eventually finds himself in the service of Alfred, King of Wessex, who dreams of uniting the English kingdoms into a single country, while Uhtred himself dreams of reclaiming his lost inheritance of Bebbanburgh and the title that goes with it. Alfred needs warriors to defend Wessex against the Danes and to begin unifying the kingdoms, and Uhtred is the greatest warrior in Britain despite being headstrong and impetuous.
Bound by his honour to serve Alfred, Uhtred will spend his life torn between his duty to Alfred and his love for the Danes who raised him.
Cornwell is one of my favourite authors for lots of reasons but above all because he’s such a great storyteller. His characters are well-rounded and while they’re often imperfect they can be extremely likeable. He brings the era vividly to life and his plotting is first-rate, so that you can’t wait to turn the page and find out what happens next. He also writes the best battle scenes I’ve ever read, bringing to life both the fear and the exultation of hand to hand combat.
I always think that fight or battle scenes are difficult to do really well but Cornwell always makes them absolutely gripping.
Uhtred is one of my favourite fictional heroes – caught between two worlds and torn between his heart and his honour, he’s also impulsive and headstrong. As the book and later the series progress, we see a real growth arc for him.
Watching him getting pushed and pulled in opposite directions and trying to find the best path forward seems to me to be a pretty universal human experience, even if our modern contexts are very different.
The supporting cast of characters are also a big draw. Some of them exist in the historical record while others are made up but they are all fleshed out and the relationships between them are a big part of what makes the books so compelling, whether it’s the friendship between Uhtred and Leofric or Finan, or his love-hate relationship with Alfred.
Cornwell provides a historical note at the end of each book, which explains some of the historical context and the areas in which he’s used artistic licence to drive the story forward. It’s so interesting to read these; they really add to the experience of reading the books.
The TV show based on the books is called The Last Kingdom and there was also a movie that was released as the finale to the series titled Seven Kings Must Die. Originally commissioned by the BBC, the production eventually moved over to Netflix, where both the series and the movie can be found.
The first season stays largely in line with the books, but starts to converge from the plots as it progresses. I’m generally of the mind that it’s better to read the books first and broadly I think that holds true for this series but the series is good enough to stand on its own merit even if you never read the books.
I get that warrior adventure/battle epics aren’t everyone’s cup of tea but if you enjoyed Game of Thrones then this is likely to be something that you’ll find worthwhile. There’s no fantasy element to The Last Kingdom but there are certainly epic battles and lots of political manoeuvring as the power balance between the Saxons and the Danes ebbs and flows back and forth.
If you enjoyed the more recent Shardlake adaptation then the atmosphere and realism of the sets and design here will also appeal.
The series is pretty fast-paced (moreso than the books, page-turners though they are) and the first series alone covers the contents of the first two novels. The dialogue is brilliantly written, often zippy, with a tongue-in-cheek wit which will especially appeal to anyone who appreciates the British sense of humour.
The casting is exceptional. Alexander Dreymon is perfect as Uhtred and does a great job of personifying him, which is especially tricky when a fictional character is both beloved and so hard to pull off, and the supporting cast are great too. There are lots of character actors who you’ll recognise from other things – it’s a bit like the Harry Potter movies, where you recognise lots of the faces but aren’t always sure of the names.
The chemistry between Uhtred and King Alfred is done brilliantly, much like the books, and really helps to illuminate Uhtred’s reasons for continuing to serve Alfred even when he doesn’t want to.
The costume and set design is thoroughly researched and, from what I understand, cleaves as closely as possible to what we know of the time. I value this because now when I picture Anglo-Saxon/Viking England, I have a visual frame of reference that is much more alive to me than an artefact in a museum.
I’m not sure why they decided to do a movie instead of a final series but I’d say they pulled it off well; overall I prefer how the series gives each storyline a little longer to develop – not ages, given that each series is only eight to ten episodes, but long enough – so there was a lot to fit into the movie but it works well and makes for a satisfying ending to the series.
If you’ve seen it, or read the books, I’d love to know your thoughts on The Last Kingdom. Did you love the fight scenes or were they too gory? Is Uhtred a hero or is he frustratingly impetuous? Let us know your thoughts on our socials.