Book description
The year is 1016 and England burns while the Viking armies blockade the
great city of London. King Ethelred lies dying and the England he knew
dies with him; the warring kingdoms of Mercia, Wessex and Northymbria
tremble on the brink of great change. One man lives to bear witness to
the upheaval: Godwin, barely out of boyhood and destined to become one
of his country's great warriors. When Ethelred's son Edmund takes the
throne, determined to succeed where his father failed, he plucks Godwin
from domestic peace to be right-hand man in his loyal shield wall.
Godwin must traverse the meadows, wintry forests and fogbound marshes of
Saxon England, raising armies of monks, ploughmen and shepherds against
the Viking invader. With epic courage and ferocity, Godwin and Edmund
repel the butchering Danes in three great battles. But an old enemy, the
treacherous Earl Eadric, dogs Godwin's footsteps, and as the final
battle approaches, around the valiant English the trap begins to close.
Justin Hill has been the winner of the Betty Trask, Geoffrey Faber and
Somerset Maugham awards, and his books have been translated into fifteen
languages.
