SWORD SONG

By Bernard Cornwell

Synopsis

The year is 885. Uhtred - half Saxon, half Dane - is a man feared and respected the length and breadth of Britain. It is a dangerous time and it falls upon Uhtred to expel the Viking raiders from London and take control of England for King Alfred.

Sample Player

Narrator	Paul Blake
Length	11hrs 45mins
Catalogue No.	8380
Publisher	BBC Audio

Other audiobooks by Bernard Cornwell

1356

The Hundred Years War rages on and the bloodiest battles are yet to be fought across France. As the outnumbered English army becomes trapped near the town of Poitiers, Thomas of Hookton, an English archer known as Le Bâtard, his men and his sworn enemies meet in an extraordinary confrontation that ignites one of the greatest battles of all time.

AZINCOURT

Agincourt, fought on October 25th 1415, on St Crispin's Day, is one of the best known battles in English history. Azincourt is an account of this momentous battle and its aftermath, skilfully bringing to life the hours of relentless fighting, the desperation of an army crippled by disease and the exceptional bravery of the English soldiers.

BATTLE FLAG

Book 3 of the 'Starbuck' series. Sequel to 'COPPERHEAD' (10598). Captain Nate Starbuck has to survive and win with his ragged Company in a bitter struggle, not only against the formidable Northern army but equally in opposition to his own superiors - who would like nothing better than to see Starbuck dead and dishonoured…

THE BLOODY GROUND

Book 4 of the 'Starbuck' series. Sequel to 'BATTLE FLAG' (10599). Nate Starbuck, fighting for the rebel South, is given command of a punishment battalion; a despised unit of shirkers and cowards. His enemies expect it to be his downfall, as Starbuck must lead this ramshackle unit into a battle that will prove to be the bloodiest of the Civil War.

THE BURNING LAND

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 opportunities. But Alfred still has the services of Uhtred, his unwilling warlord, who leads the Vikings into a trap and inflicts one of the greatest defeats they were ever to suffer.

COPPERHEAD

Book 2 of the 'Starbuck' series. Sequel to 'REBEL' (10597). Expelled from the Faulconer Legion, Starbuck must join the shadowy war of betrayal and espionage, where nothing is certain and no one can be trusted. Starbuck’s journey will take him across the blood-sodden battlefields of Virginia and into the deadly high command of the northern army.

CRACKDOWN

Nick Breakspear thinks he's opted for the easy life. But acting as nursemaid for the idle rich aboard the luxury yacht Wavebreaker in the Bahamas does have its downside. Especially when you come across a bullet-ridden boat not far from the infamous drug baron's hideaway island of Murder Cay. Most people would turn a blind eye. But Nick Breakspear isn't most people...

A CROWNING MERCY

On a sunlit afternoon in seventeenth-century Dorset, a young girl falls in love with a stranger. But when her Puritan brother tries to force her into an unbearable marriage she flees, taking with her only the gift left to her by her unknown father - a gold pendant sealed by an engraving of an axe, and the words 'St Matthew'. But it’s a perilous legacy that others will kill for …

DEATH OF KINGS

King Alfred is dying and his passing threatens the island of Britain to renewed warfare. Alfred wants his son, Edward, to succeed him but there are other Saxon claimants to the throne as well as ambitious pagan Vikings to the north.

THE EMPTY THRONE

The ruler of Mercia is dying, leaving no apparent heir. An empty throne leaves the kingdom exposed to rival West Saxons and to the Vikings, who are on a bloody rampage once more. A hero is needed, a hero who has been in battle all his life, who can destroy the double threat to Mercia. A hero who will ultimately decide the fate of a nation...

ENEMY OF GOD

Book 2 of 'The Warlord Chronicles'. Sequel to 'The Winter King' (006734). After one last battle, Arthur will rule a peaceful kingdom, but he has forgotten the Gods, who thrive on chaos. His plans are thrown into turmoil as the search begins for thirteen sacred objects.

EXCALIBUR

Book 3 of 'The Warlord Chronicles'. Sequel to 'Enemy of God' (006735). A tale of love, war, loyalty and betrayal that begins with Lancelot's failed rebellion and the ruin of Arthur's marriage. Sensing disunity, the Saxons declare war. Although Arthur is victorious, he makes promises that will come back and haunt him.

FALLEN ANGELS

The Lazender family had been the envy and the pride of England for centuries. Never had they seemed more powerful or more wealthy. But Lazen Castle is, unknowingly, a house under siege. The Fallen Angels – among the most powerful and dangerous men in Europe – are plotting to bring revolution to England. To succeed, they need money, and the Lazender fortune can provide it.

THE FLAME BEARER

Britain is in a state of uneasy peace and so England’s greatest warrior, Uhtred of Bebbanburg, finally has the chance to take back Bebbanburg. But the enemies Uhtred has made distract him and he will need all the skills he has learned in a lifetime of war to make his dream come true.

FOOLS AND MORTALS

In the heart of Elizabethan England young actor, Richard Shakespeare, is struggling to make his way in a company dominated by his estranged older brother, William. As the growth of theatre blooms, their rivalry – and Richard’s onetime gratitude, sours and he is sorely tempted to abandon family loyalty.

THE FORT

Summer 1779. Seven hundred and fifty British soldiers and three small ships of the Royal Navy. Their orders: to build a fort from which to control the New England seaboard. Forty-one American ships and over nine hundred men. Their orders: to expel the British. The battle that followed was a classic example of how the best-laid plans can be disrupted by personality and politics, and of how warfare can bring out both the best and worst in men.

GALLOWS THIEF

In 1817 artist Charles Corday has only a week to live after being found guilty of murder. The government employ Rider Sandman to confirm Corday's guilt, but he finds that the evidence does not fit the verdict. Can he save an innocent man from the gallows?

HARLEQUIN

Book 1 of the 'Grail Quest' series: Thomas of Hookton, an archer in the army of Edward III, finds himself a fugitive, wanted by the French and the English. At the battle of Crecy he must decide where his loyalty lies!

HERETIC

Book 3 of the 'Grail Quest' series: Sequel to 'Vagabond'. A truce is called between the French and the English after the fall of Calais in 1347. But Thomas of Hookton has still to confront his deadliest enemy, his cousin, Guy Vexille.

THE LAST KINGDOM

Set in the reign of Alfred the Great. Uhtred lost his parents, English nobles, at the age of ten, and was then raised in the Viking fashion by a Dane. As clashes between the English and the Danes increase he finds his loyalties are divided.

THE LORDS OF THE NORTH

Uhtred wants revenge. He wants the land and castle that are his. He wants his treacherous uncle to pay for taking them. Heading north with his lover, former nun Hild, he finds chaos as the Vikings battle among themselves to consolidate their hold on the region. Then Uhtred suffers a betrayal to rival the treachery that deprived him of his birthright. It will leave him trapped with no hope of escape …

THE PAGAN LORD

Alfred the Great is dead and Edward his son reigns as king, but peace cannot hold. The Danes in the north, led by Viking Cnut Longsword, stand ready to invade and will never rest until the emerald crown is theirs. Loyalties will be divided and men will fall, as every Saxon kingdom is drawn into the bloodiest battle yet with the Danes.

THE PALE HORSEMAN

Most of England is now ruled by the Vikings, and Alfred has been forced to retreat to marshlands in Somerset. Uhtred, loyal to Alfred, infiltrates the Vikings' camps and councils to gather information. Soon, however, he transfer his allegiance to the Vikings.

REBEL

It is summer 1861 and the armies of the North and South stand on the brink of America’s civil war. Nathanial Starbuck, jilted by his girl and estranged from his family, arrives in the capital of the Confederate South, where he enlists in an elite regiment being raised by a rich, eccentric Washington Faulconer.

REDCOAT

Philadelphia in 1777 is a city at war - not just between American troops and the British army, but within itself. For an occupied city throws together loyalist and patriot, soldier and civilian, man and woman; divides families and breeds treachery.

SCOUNDREL

Paul Shanahan - part-time surveyor, erstwhile IRA arms dealer and sometime suspected CIA agent - is a full-time scoundrel. But he's the perfect man if you need an illicit operation done - and done well. So when five million dollars' worth of gold smuggled out of occupied Kuwait needs to get from Morocco to Miami by boat with no questions asked, Paul Shanahan is the name on everyone's lips...

SEA LORD

Johnny Rossendale has spent the last four years on the seas, away from the titled family he despises. But returning home for his mother's funeral, he soon finds himself playing a game of very high stakes. His family are hostile towards him, and the police are suspicious when a painting goes missing. Everyone thinks Johnny knows where it is and someone is even prepared to kill for it.

SHARPE'S BATTLE

The year is 1811; Richard Sharpe is given responsibility for an Irish battalion of ceremonial troops. However they are not only poorly equipped but also untrained for battle.

SHARPE'S COMPANY

Book 13 in the Sharpe series. The year is 1812, and Richard Sharpe’s mission is to thwart Napoleon's dream of empire. Sharpe and his company must gain control of two fortress cities in Spain if Wellington's army is to succeed in their aim.

SHARPE'S DEVIL

Book 21 in the Sharpe series. In his quest to discover the truth about the disappearance of the Donna Louisa Vivar's husband, Richard Sharpe is taken to Chile, where he soon finds himself caught up in the rebellion against Spanish rule and fighting alongside the flamboyant rebel admiral, Lord Thomas Cochrane.

SHARPE'S EAGLE

The eighth book in the series. The newly promoted Captain Richard Sharpe clashes with an incompetent colonel, leads his men in the battle of Talavera and earns himself a dangerous enemy. As Sharpe leads his men in to battle, he knows he must fight for the honour of the regiment and his future career. Soldier, hero, rogue - Sharpe is the man you always want on your side. Born in poverty, he joined the army to escape jail and climbed the ranks by sheer brutal courage. He knows no other family than the regiment of the 95th Rifles whose green jacket he proudly wears.

SHARPE'S ENEMY

Book 15 in the Sharpe series. Major Sharpe, newly promoted, is given the task of rescuing a group of well-born women, held hostage high in the mountains by a rabble of deserters. And one of the renegades is Sergeant Hakeswill, Sharpe’s bitter enemy.

SHARPE'S ESCAPE

The tenth book in the Sharpe series. In September of 1810, just before repulsing the French army, Sharpe battles on, this time getting trapped by Portuguese traitors even as his company tries to save their country from French invasion.

SHARPE'S FORTRESS

The third book in the Sharpe series. Sharpe has recently been made an officer, but is wishing that he had stayed a sergeant when he is shunned by his new regiment. The force are in pursuit of the Mahrattas and a renegade Englishman, William Dodd, who have taken refuge in Gawilghur, an impregnable fortress.

SHARPE'S FURY

Book 11 in the Sharpe series. In the winter of 1811 the war seemed lost. Wellington and his British army are in Portugal, waiting for spring to spark the war to life again. Richard Sharpe and his company are part of a small expeditionary force sent to break a bridge across the River Guadiana.

SHARPE'S GOLD

The ninth book in the Sharpe series. In order to save Wellington’s army from collapse, Richard Sharpe has to steal a cache of gold hidden in the Portuguese mountains.

SHARPE'S HAVOC

Sequel to 'Sharpe's Prey' (7195). In 1809 Sharpe, part of a small British force in Portugal, is sent to find Kate Savage. Before he can discover her the French attack Portugal, and the city of Oporto falls, trapping him.

SHARPE'S HONOUR

Book 16 in the Sharpe series. An unfinished duel, a midnight murder, and the treachery of a beautiful prostitute lead to the imprisonment of Sharpe. Caught in a web of political intrigue for which his military experience has left him fatally unprepared, Sharpe becomes a fugitive, a man hunted by both ally and enemy alike.

SHARPE'S PREY

The fifth book in the Sharpe series. It is 1807 and Sharpe is back from India and has joined the Greenjackets. His army career is in ruins, and any future in the army is seemingly hopeless.

SHARPE'S REGIMENT

Book 17 in the Sharpe series. Sharpe's men are in mortal danger, not from the French, but from the bureaucrats of Whitehall. Determined not to see his regiment die, Sharpe returns to England where he is forced into the most desperate gamble of his life and not even the Prince Regent's influence may be enough to save him.

SHARPE'S REVENGE

Book 19 in the Sharpe series. Sharpe's French nemesis, Major Ducos, has stolen a fortune from Napoleon and framed Sharpe for the crime. As fugitives from the British Army and the restored French royalist regime, Sharpe, Frederickson and Harper travel across France and into Naples to find Ducos and clear themselves.

SHARPE'S RIFLES

The sixth book in the Sharpe series. It's 1809, and Napoleon's army is sweeping across Spain. Lieutenant Richard Sharpe is newly in command of the demoralized, distrustful men of the 95th Rifles. He must lead them to safety-and the only way of escape is a treacherous trek through the enemy-infested mountains of Spain.

SHARPE'S SIEGE

Book 18 in the Sharpe series. The invasion of France is under way and the British Navy has called upon the services of Major Richard Sharpe. He and a small force of riflemen are to capture a fortress and secure a landing on the French coast - one of the most dangerous missions of his career.

SHARPE'S SWORD

Book 14 in the Sharpe series. Colonel Leroux is killing Britain's most valuable spies, and it's up to Richard Sharpe to stop him. Thrust into the unfamiliar world of political and military intrigue, Sharpe relentlessly pursues Leroux, determined to exact his revenge with the cold steel of his sword.

SHARPE'S TIGER

The first book in the Sharpe series. When a senior British officer is captured by the forces of the Tippoo of Mysore during the siege of Seringapatam in 1799, Sharpe is offered a chance to attempt a rescue.

SHARPE'S TRAFALGAR

The fourth book in the Sharpe series. Sharpe is returning to London from India to join the newly formed Green Jackets. Instead of the expected period of rest on the voyage home, he finds the ship is riven with treachery, and threatened by a French sea-raider.

SHARPE'S TRIUMPH

The second book in the Sharpe series. The story begins with a treacherous attack by Maj. William Dodd, a British officer who has defected from the East India Company. Sharpe vows to take revenge, which leads him to serve with General Wellesley against the Maratha Army at Assaye.

SHARPE'S WATERLOO

Book 20 in the Sharpe series. Just as he comes face-to-face with his estranged wife and her lover at a grand society ball, news comes that the British-Prussian link is under attack. In the Battle of Waterloo, Sharpe once again plays a pivotal role in the outcome of a great British triumph.

STONEHENGE

This is the tale of three brothers and of their rivalry that created a vast temple, a place for the gods, certainly, but also a place that will confirm for ever the supreme power of the Ratharryn tribe that built it.

STORMCHILD

Tim Blackburn sets out to find his brilliant but wayward daughter, Nicole, who has disappeared in the company of an environmental activist, who is leader of the Genesis community, notorious for their violence. Eventually, Blackburn, the hunter, becomes Blackburn the hunted, as he precipitates a terrifying confrontation with the evil he finds.

SWORD OF KINGS

As two opposing kings gather their armies, fate drags Uhtred to London, and a struggle for control that must leave one king victorious, and one dead. But fate – as Uhtred has learned to his cost – is inexorable. Plunged into a world of shifting alliances and uncertain loyalties, he will need all his strength and guile to overcome the fiercest warrior of them all.

VAGABOND

Book 2 in the 'Grail Quest Series'. Sequel to 'Harlequin' (5741). After the battle of Crecy, Thomas Hookton is sent by the king to discover more about his father's strange inheritance which seems to be connected to the Holy Grail. Thomas realises that he is not the only person pursuing the Grail and that his rivals are ruthless. Contains some graphic violence.

WAR LORD

After years fighting to reclaim his rightful home, Uhtred of Bebbanburg has returned to Northumbria. With his loyal band of warriors and a new woman by his side, his household is secure – yet Uhtred is far from safe. Beyond the walls of his impregnable fortress, a battle for power rages. Only fate can decide the outcome.. The magnificent finale to the Last Kingdom series.

WAR OF THE WOLF

Uhtred of Bebbanburg has won back his ancestral home but, threatened by enemies both old and new, he doesn’t have long to enjoy the victory. In Mercia, rebellion is in the air as King Edward tries to seize control. In Wessex, rival parties scramble to settle on the identity of the next king. And across the country invading Norsemen continue their relentless incursion, ever hungry for land

WARRIORS OF THE STORM

A fragile peace governs the kingdoms of Wessex, East Anglia and Mercia. Uhtred controls the northern parts from the fortified city of Chester. But forces are rising up against him led by Viking warrior, Ragnall Iverson. Uhtred will stop at nothing to take back his corner of Northumbria and secure the future of Bebbanburg.

WATERLOO

On the 18th June, 1815, the blood-soaked battle of Waterloo would become a landmark in European history. Now, brought to life by the celebrated novelist Bernard Cornwell, this is the chronicle of the four days leading up to the actual battle and a thrilling hour-by-hour account of that fateful day.

THE WINTER KING

Book 1 of 'The Warlord Chronicles'. The story of Arthur, a warlord, and the only man who can hold Uther's throne and unite Britain's squabbling kingdoms against a common enemy.