Bernard Cornwell

The author who gave voice to the man born a Saxon, raised a Dane.

Bernard Cornwell is the English author behind 'The Saxon Stories,' the thirteen-novel series that inspired the television show The Last Kingdom. Born on February 23, 1944, in London to an English woman named Dorothy Cornwell and a Canadian airman named William Oughtred, he was adopted by the Wiggins family before reclaiming his birth surname, Cornwell. A former teacher and BBC journalist, Cornwell turned to fiction after facing visa issues in the United States. He is best known for his Richard Sharpe series but gained significant acclaim for The Saxon Stories, which chronicles the unification of England under King Alfred the Great through the eyes of Uhtred of Bebbanburg.

Quick Facts

Born: 23 February 1944
Birthplace: London, England
Occupation: Author
Genre: Historical fiction, historical non-fiction
Notable works: The Saxon Stories, Sharpe; The Warlord Chronicles

Lore & Background

Cornwell structures his historical novels around a 'big story' of real events and a 'little story' of fictional characters. For The Saxon Stories, he identified that few in England knew how their nation began, unlike Americans with a clear founding date; this became the series' driving force. He partly based Uhtred on his own belief that he is a descendant of Uhtred the Bold. A defining feature of his work is an end note explaining how the fiction matches or differs from history and what visitors might see at modern sites today. The series depicts the struggle for power in 9th-century England, specifically focusing on the unification under Alfred, pitting Anglo-Saxon paganism against Christianity, as Druidism was largely extinct by that time.

Reader's Guide

The Saxon Stories were adapted for television as 'The Last Kingdom' by the BBC and Netflix. The show is one of three historical novel series Cornwell has seen adapted, alongside the Sharpe series (ITV) and 'The Winter King' (MGM+). Fans can find Cornwell's unique perspective in the end notes of his books, where he contrasts his narrative with historical records. The author lives in the US, alternating between Cape Cod and Charleston, South Carolina, after moving there in 1979.

Did You Know?

Cornwell was adopted by a strict pacifist sect called the Peculiar People.
He met his biological father, William Oughtred, for the first time when he was 58 years old in Vancouver.
Cornwell moved to the US in 1979 and began writing novels because he could not get a work permit without one.