NCW Libraries

In the heart of Elizabethan England, Richard Shakespeare dreams of a glittering career in one of the London playhouses, a world dominated by his older brother, William. But he is a penniless actor, making ends meet through a combination of a beautiful face, petty theft and a silver tongue. As William's star rises, Richard's onetime gratitude is souring and he is sorely tempted to abandon family loyalty. So when a priceless manuscript goes missing,...

As the ninth century wanes, England appears about to be plunged into chaos once more. For the Viking-raised but Saxon-born warrior, Uhtred, whose life seems to shadow the making of England, this presents him with difficult choices. King Alfred is dying and his passing threatens the island of Britain to renewed warfare. Alfred wants his son, Edward, to succeed him but there are other Saxon claimants to the throne as well as ambitious pagan Vikings...

Britain is in a state of uneasy peace. Northumbria's Viking ruler, Sigtryggr, and Mercia's Saxon Queen Aethelflaed have agreed a truce. And so England's greatest warrior, Uhtred of Bebbanburg, at last has the chance to take back the home his traitorous uncle stole from him so many years ago -- and which his scheming cousin still occupies. But fate is inexorable and the enemies Uhtred has made and the oaths he has sworn combine to distract him from...

After breaking with King Alfred of Wessex and joining the Danes and the Vikings in hopes of reclaiming Bebbanburg, warlord Uhtred switches sides again after Alfred's daughter pleads with him to take command of the Mercian army.

In the year 1810 Napoleon is determined to conquer Portugal. But Captain Richard Sharpe leads the French directly into the Duke of Wellington's devastating defenses at Torres Vedras, where one of the great battles of the Napoleonic wars erupts.

"After surviving a vicious attack on his village in 1343 A.D., archer Thomas of Hookton joins the army of King Edward III as he prepares to launch an invasion into France, but his quest for vengeance takes him on an epic quest for the Holy Grail. A brutal raid on the quiet coastal English village of Hookton in 1342 leaves but one survivor, a young archer named Thomas. On this terrible dawn, his purpose becomes clear--to recover a stolen sacred relic...

June 1815: The Duke of Wellington, the Prince of Orange, and Napoleon will meet on the battlefield ... and decide the fate of Europe With the emperor Napoleon at its head, and enormous French army is marching toward Brussels. The British and their allies are also converging on Brussels - in preparation for a grand society ball. And it is up to Richard Sharpe to convince the Prince of Orange, the inexperienced commander of Wellington's Dutch troops,...

A corrupt political plot threatens to put an end to the South Essex regiment and the life of Major Richard Sharpe when he investigates and discovers an illegal recruiting ring selling soldiers like cattle to other divisions.

From internationally bestselling author Bernard Cornwell comes the eagerly anticipated sequel to The Archer's Tale, in his acclaimed Grail Quest series, in which a young archer sets out to avenge his family's honor on the battlefields of the Hundred Years' War and winds up on a quest for the Holy Grail. 1347: a year of war and unrest. England's army is fighting in France, and its absence encourages the Scots to invade the old enemy. Thomas of Hookton,...

The greatest threat to Wellington's Salamanca Campaign is not Napoleon's Army but France's deadliest assassin. He's already failed to kill Captain Richard Sharpe once. Now he's getting a second chance. Colonel Leroux is killing Britain's most valuable spies, and it's up to Richard Sharpe to stop him. Thrust into the unfamiliar world of political and military intrigue, Sharpe must tangle with La Marquesa, a beguiling, extraordinarily beautiful woman...