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This is a historical fiction set in the times when the Danes were settling in the British territories of the Anglo-Saxons.  The story takes place in the reign of King Alfred of Wessex.

This is actually the third in a series, but it reads well as an independent story.  I had not seen the series and just came across this volume in a bookstore while living in Edenvale, South Africa in 2007.  I was not familiar with Bernard Cornwell, and was pleased with the authentic flavour and style of his writing and character development.

He comments in the story on the differences in the Germanic dialects of the Danish Vikings and the Anglo-Saxons.  The author reflects extensive historical research and projects a realism in the use of word-forms and names of places and people of that era.

The historical note at the end of the book provides some background to the characters and situation the story portrays.  The story illustrates the reality of the complex relationships between the different Viking and related Anglo-Saxon tribes and their rivalry over the centuries of settlement of the British Isles.  Mixed families, divided loyalties competing identities, Christian versus pagan, in a com plex pattern of change and challenge.

See related reviews and articles on this site:
The Medieval Mind of Europe
Scots, Irish and English

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OBJ

First reading notes written 8 October 2008
Developed and posted on Amazon and OJTR 23 February 2009

Orville Boyd Jenkins, EdD, PhD
Copyright © 2009, 2022 Orville Boyd Jenkins
Permission granted for free download and transmission for personal or educational use.  Other rights reserved.

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