The Last Kingdom cover art

The Last Kingdom

The Last Kingdom Series, Book 1

 Preview
LIMITED TIME OFFER

3 months free
Try for £0.00
£8.99/mo thereafter. Renews automatically. Terms apply. Offer ends 31 July 2025 at 23:59 GMT.
Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
Premium Plus auto-renews for £8.99/mo after 3 months. Cancel monthly.

The Last Kingdom

By: Bernard Cornwell
Narrated by: Jamie Glover
Try for £0.00

£8.99/mo after 3 months. Offer ends 31 July 2025 23:59 GMT. Cancel monthly.

Buy Now for £12.99

Buy Now for £12.99

Confirm Purchase
Pay using card ending in
Switch payment method
By completing your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions of Use and authorise Audible to charge your designated card or any other card on file. Please see our Privacy Notice, Cookies Notice and Interest-based Ads Notice.
Cancel

About this listen

Read by Jamie Glover.

The first book in the epic and bestselling series that has gripped millions.

A hero will be forged from this broken land.

As seen on Netflix and BBC around the world.

In a land torn apart by conflict, an orphan boy has come of age. Raised by the Vikings, deadly enemies of his own Saxon people, Uhtred is a fierce and skilled warrior who kneels to no-one.

Alfred – Saxon, king, man of god – fights to hold the throne of the only land still resisting the pagan northerners.

Uhtred and Alfred’s fates are tangled, soaked in blood and blackened by the flames of war. Together they will change history.

©2004 Bernard Cornwell (P)2004 HarperCollins UK Action & Adventure Genre Fiction Historical Literary Fiction Mystery, Thriller & Suspense Thriller & Suspense War & Military Fiction Royalty Denmark Viking

Listeners also enjoyed...

 Agincourt cover art
The Silmarillion cover art
Trollslayer cover art
Viking Blood and Blade cover art
Many Are the Dead cover art
Killer of Men cover art
New Spring cover art
Star Wars: The Old Republic: Revan cover art
Son of the Black Sword cover art
Vampire Crusader cover art
Lord of the Silver Bow cover art
Red Rising cover art
The Hammer and the Cross cover art
The Long Ships cover art
Homeland cover art
The White Company cover art

Critic reviews

'Cornwell is a virtuoso of historical fiction.' Sunday Telegraph

'Bernard Cornwell is a literary miracle. Year after year, hail, rain, snow, war and political upheavals fail to prevent him from producing the most entertaining and readable historical novels of his generation.' Daily Mail

'Cornwell's narration is quite masterly and supremely well-researched.' Observer
All stars
Most relevant  
I have read all the Sharpe books and thought they couldn't be beaten but I adore the Saxon chronicles. Both Sharpe and Utred share the same gritty, lack of respect for authority, impulsive stupidity and the love of a good fight! This is the first of the series explaining the origins of Utred, his upbringing by the Danes and his contact with Alfred the Great. As with all this series, the story twists and turns until you are sure he is done for, but ultimately Utred wins through with fair measures of luck, skill and violence. (Hope I haven't ruined the plot for you!)

While events do seem to be largely based on historical fact, there is also a fair bit of artist's licence in the detail.

I heartily recommend the whole series. I don't know how many times I have listened to them. I can''t wait until the next and probably the final book in the series, Pagan Lord.

Simply the best!

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
A great listen but missing a bit of je ne sais pas. Then I looked carefully - this was an abridged version with no full length ones available. In fact the series appears to have some in the abridged and some in the unabridged. Audible you have missed a trick.

If only I'd realised.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Incredibly well-researched as usual, Bernard has drawn upon Saga material, Norse alliterative poetry, Alfredian Prose and the Anglo-Saxon Chronicles to conjure up a credible early medieval world of personal relationships, differing social and cultural values, the conflicts created by the Danes' need for new land, and the clash of religions - the new and already dogma-bound christianity versus the highly personalised and individual beliefs of the pagan world of the Norse. A cracking good tale with superb authentic background detail from this master storyteller. As they say, 'vitud er enn, eda hvat?'

The Last Kingdom

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
BE WARNED - THIS IS THE ABRIDGED VERSION!!!
I've read and thoroughly enjoyed the books, been a bit disappointed with the TV series and now been thoroughly engrossed in the audiobook.

I wuz robbed!!!

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
A truly great start to a magnificent saga. I look forward to the rest of the adventures.

Fantastic adventure!

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
I really enjoyed The Last Kingdom. The description of the battle scenes and the pace at which the narrator tells the story really built the excitement, tension amd brutality of battle. I like stories about Vikings and Odinn and was trying to place the ancient town and city names in present day England as I listened. I am keen to get started on the second book. I think this has been made into a Netflix show which I havent gotten around to watching yet but hope to soon.

Brilliant and brutal!

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Brilliant. Great story and well read. I absolutely loved every minute of this audio book.

Engaging and breath taking

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
I have to say the Bernard has done it again, this is a stunning book. He just keeps on producing thes books that take into another world. Keep them comming.

One of the best books I have read.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.