He then joined Thames Television as editor of Thames News. He then joined BBC's Nationwide and was promoted to become head of current affairs at BBC Northern Ireland. He attempted to enlist in the British armed services at least three times but was rejected on the grounds of myopia. After he left them, he changed his name to his birth mother's maiden name, Cornwell.Ĭornwell was sent away to Monkton Combe School, attended the University of London, and after graduating, worked as a teacher.

He was adopted and brought up in Essex by the Wiggins family, who were members of the Peculiar People, a strict Protestant sect who banned frivolity of all kinds and even medicine. His father was a Canadian airman, and his mother, who was English, a member of the Women's Auxiliary Air Force. Going far beyond the usual tales of romance and chivalry, The Winter King introduces us to Arthur the man rather than the legend- a true hero a man of honor, loyalty and amazing valor a man who loves Guinevere more passionately than he should a man whose life is at once tragic and triumphant.Īs Arthur, a military genius, struggles with his small band of warriors to keep a flicker of civilization alive in a barbaric world, Bernard Cornwell makes a familiar tale into a legend all over again.Ĭornwell was born in London in 1944. The saga begins in fifth-century Dark Age Britain, a land where Arthur has been banished and Merlin has disappeared, where a child-king sits unprotected on the throne, where religion vies with magic for the souls of the people. In The Winter King, Bernard Cornwell, who has been called 'one of the most accomplished storytellers now writing,' turns to the story he was born to write: the mythic saga of King Arthur.

'These are the tales of the last days before the great darkness descended.These are the tales of Arthur, the Warlord, the King that Never Was.' Combining myth, history, and thrilling battlefield action, fans of Game of Thrones, The Last Kingdom, Conn Iggulden and Merlin will be captivated by this gripping epic.The first volume of The Warlord Chronicles, the trilogy that forever changed the way the legend of Arthur is told. Handed power by Merlin and pursuing a doomed romance with the beautiful Guinevere, Arthur knows he will struggle to unite the country - let alone hold back the Saxon enemy at the gates. But no one has counted on the fearsome warlord Arthur. While they squabble and spoil for war, a host of Saxon armies gather, preparing for invasion. Yet each of the country's lesser kings seek to claim the crown for themselves. Uther, the High King of Britain, is dead. 1 bestselling author of WAR LORD comes an epic retelling of the Arthurian legend, from the bestselling Last Kingdom series In the Dark Ages, a legendary warrior arises to unite a divided land.

The winter king cornwell