Bernard Cornwell

speaker

244 appearances 1 recordings 1 series first heard Dec 2025 last heard 20 Dec

Bernard Cornwell’s voice in public audio — every appearance, attributed to the second.

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Recordings per month over the last 12 months — 1 in all, peaking in Dec 2025 with 1.

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And it occurred to me that I had no idea how England came to be.

By this time, I was living in America, and America knows exactly where it came from and boringly celebrates it every July the 4th.

But I mean, if you'd asked me, how did England begin, I just didn't know.

So I set out to find out, and the easy way to find out was to write it.

And so, if you like, the big story at the back of Uhtred is the making of England.

The little story, which is in the forefront, is Uhtred's life.

And that happened because at about the age of 50-something, I met my real father for the first time, which is a bit late, but there you go.

And he was living in Canada.

And his surname was Uhtred, which is Uhtred, just changed over centuries.

And he gave me a family tree.

And I discovered that I was distantly related or descended from a man called Uhtred.

who had held on to his fortress in Northumbria, despite the whole of Northumbria falling to the Vikings.

And I thought, that's interesting.

That's my story.

How does he do it?

So, ostensibly, the stories are about Uhtred hanging on or regaining his...

His birthright.

But the biggest story in the background is that England is being made.

Well, you are, because English are made up of all those.

I like that it's Yorkshire.

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