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"It is 997 CE, the end of the Dark Ages. England is facing attacks from the Welsh in the west and the Vikings in the east. Those in power bend justice according to their will, regardless of ordinary people and often in conflict with the king. Without a clear rule of law, chaos reigns. In these turbulent times, three characters find their lives intertwined: A young boatbuilder's life is turned upside down when the only home he's ever known is raided...

"Uhtred of Bebbanburg is a man of his word. An oath bound him to King Alfred. An oath bound him to AEthelflAEd. And now an oath will wrench him away from the ancestral home he fought so hard to regain. For Uhtred has sworn that on King Edward's death, he will kill two men. And now Edward is dying. A violent attack drives Uhtred south with a small band of warriors, and headlong into the battle for kingship. Plunged into a world of shifting alliances...

With his 'Grail Quest', 'Warlord' and 'Sharpe' series Bernard Cornwell has cemented his position as a virtuoso of historical fiction. 'The Pale Horseman' is a novel of heroic deeds, bloody battles and the struggle to unite Britain in the face of a common enemy.

As the ninth century wanes, Alfred the Great lays dying; his dream of a unified England in danger and his kingdom on the brink of chaos. While his son, Edward, has been named his successor, there are other Saxon claimants to the throne-as well as ambitious pagan Vikings to the north. Uhtred, the Saxon-born, Viking-raised warrior, whose life seems to shadow the making of England itself, is torn between his vows to Alfred and his desire to reclaim...