Description

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A stunning recreation of the life and times of Oswald of Northumbria: Christian warlord, founder of Lindisfarne monastery, and the first great English monarch

Oswald Whiteblade lived one of the most influential and colorful lives in early English history. Before his death in battle against the pagans of Mercia cut short his reign as king of Northumbria (634-42), he remodeled his northeastern English homeland as a Christian kingdom, founded the monastery of Lindisfarne, introduced a culture of learning which influenced all Europe, and became the most powerful ruler in Britain. Max Adams's thrilling account rescues Oswald from Dark Age obscurity to reveal an unjustly forgotten English hero—a king whose return from exile to reclaim his birthright was the inspiration for J. R. R. Tolkien's Aragorn in The Lord of the Rings. But this is more than just a biography of the first great English monarch; it is a stunningly researched, wide-ranging, beautifully written, and revelatory portrait of early medieval England in all its aspects.

About the Author

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Max Adams is the author of Admiral Collingwood and The Prometheans, which was a Guardian Book of the Week.

Praise For…

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"A triumph. The most gripping portrait of 7th-Century Britain that I have read... A Game of Thrones in the Dark Ages." —Tom Holland, the Times

"The author has an engaging way with words, you feel personally guided in the quest." —Newcastle Chronicle

"A superb biography... a wonderfully vivid portrayal of early medieval England." —the Hexham Courant