The Burning Land: Book summary and reviews of The Burning Land by Bernard Cornwell

The Burning Land Summary

In the last years of the ninth century, King Alfred of Wessex is in failing health, and his heir is an untested youth. The Danes, who have failed so many times to conquer Wessex, smell opportunity. First comes Harald Bloodhair, a savage warrior leading a Viking horde, who is encouraged to cruelty by his woman, Skade. But Alfred still has the services of Uhtred, his unwilling warlord, who leads Harald into a trap and, at Farnham in Surrey, inflicts one of the greatest defeats the Vikings were ever to suffer.This novel, the fifth in the magnificent series of England's history tells of the final assaults on Alfred's Wessex, that Wessex survived to become England is because men like Uhtred defeated an enemy feared throughout Christendom.

The Burning Land Reviews

"Vivid descriptions of merciless battlefield slaughter, rape, and destruction are artfully related by a masterful storyteller. Uhtred is victorious in some battles, but the outcome of others will have to wait for the sequel." - Publishers Weekly

"Once again, Cornwell, a master of martial fiction, makes history come alive with his rousing battlefield scenes." - Booklist

"The prolific Cornwell has been described as a master of historical fiction, but that may be an understatement. Cornwell makes his subject material come alive." - Library Journal

The information about The Burning Land shown above was first featured in "The BookBrowse Review" - BookBrowse's online-magazine that keeps our members abreast of notable and high-profile books publishing in the coming weeks. In most cases, the reviews are necessarily limited to those that were available to us ahead of publication. If you are the publisher or author of this book and feel that the reviews shown do not properly reflect the range of media opinion now available, please send us a message with the mainstream media reviews that you would like to see added.

The Burning Land Reader Reviews

Click here and be the first to review this book!

Bernard Cornwell Author Biography

Bernard Cornwell was born (in 1944) and brought up in Britain, where he worked in the British Broadcasting Centre (BBC), ending up as Head of Current Affairs TV for the BBC in Northern Ireland. While working in Belfast he met Judy, a visiting American, fell in love and moved to the USA with her.

For reasons unknown he was refused a Green Card, so decided to earn his living writing (self-employed people don't require Green Cards). His first book, 'Sharpe's Eagle', was about a British soldier during the Napoleonic Wars; it was published in the early '80s.

There are now over 20 titles in the Sharpe series.  In addition Cornwell has written a number of other series.  For the full list of books in series order (which...

... Full Biography

Other books by Bernard Cornwell at BookBrowse

more...