Harold: The Last of the Saxon Kings — Complete
1848
Harold: The Last of the Saxon Kings — Complete
Edward Bulwer Lytton, Baron Lytton
1848
Before William the Conqueror crossed the Channel, before the fields of Sussex ran red at Hastings, there was Harold Godwinson, the last king to wear the crown of Alfred. Edward Bulwer Lytton weaves a sweeping tale of doomed sovereignty and forbidden love against the twilight of Anglo-Saxon England. At its heart is Edith, a maiden torn between her grandmother's ancient pagan wisdom and the new Christian faith, whose destiny becomes irrevocably linked with Harold's as political storm clouds gather. The novel opens in the golden light of May Day 1052, when England still seems whole, then pulls readers into the treacherous currents of court intrigue, Norman ambition, and the terrible weight of a crown that no Saxon may keep. Lytton writes with Victorian grandeur about the collision of two civilizations, rendering the tragedy of 1066 not as distant history but as intimate, devastating human drama. For readers who crave historical fiction with genuine tragic weight and romantic sweep.
