The Last Kingdom by Bernard Cornwell – Historical fiction set at the time of Alfred the Great (before he was great) in England when the vikings invaded and threatened to conquer all of Anglo-Saxon England’s 4 kingdoms. Bernard Cornwall is one of my favorite authors of historical fiction and this book is no exception. My only problem is that as the first book in a new series I have to wait for the author to write the second book.

The book Sharpe’s Rifles is the beginning of a rather large series of wonderful books by Bernard Cornwall. I say it is the first book, but as Bernard continues to write prequels it becomes somewhat more confusing which book to recommend to read first. Sharpe is a British lieutenant who rises from the ranks because of an act of bravery on the battlefield. He is not a gentleman and as such is often resented by his men or the other officers. This book takes place in the peninsular campaigns of Wellington against Napoleon’s marshals in Spain and Portugal.

I got hooked on the Horatio Hornblower series after watching the wonderful movies on the books done by A&E. A wonderful series of books about the exploits of a mythical English sea captain in the time of Napoleon. If you liked Master and Commander , you will love Horatio Hornblower.