Latest in the bestselling }Alfred{ series, with the previous instalment staying on the }Sunday Times{ top ten bestseller list for nine weeks. 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 so far failed to conquer Wessex, see an opportunity... 'Cornwell draws a fascinating picture of England as it might have been before anything like England existed' }The Times{