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Bernard Cornwell

Goodreads Author

Born

in London, England, The United Kingdom

Website

http://www.bernardcornwell.net/

Genre

Historical Fiction, Mystery & Thrillers

Influences

https://www.goodreads.com/author/show... ...more

Member Since

December 2013

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Cornwell was born in London in 1944. His father was a Canadian airman, and his mother, who was English, a member of the Women's Auxiliary Air Force. He was adopted and brought up in Essex by the Wiggins family, who were members of the Peculiar People, a strict Protestant sect who banned frivolity of all kinds and even medicine. After he left them, he changed his name to his birth mother's maiden name, Cornwell.

Cornwell was sent away to Monkton Combe School, attended the University of London, and after graduating, worked as a teacher. He attempted to enlist in the British armed services at least three times but was rejected on the grounds of myopia.

He then joined BBC's Nationwide and was promoted to become head of current affairs at BBC Nort ...more

164 posts
Bernard Cornwell's Blog

Waterstones: An Evening with Bernard Cornwell at St. James’s Church, London

On Tuesday 28 October I will be talking with Stig Abell at St. James’s Church, London beginning at 7pm

Tickets: https://www.waterstones.com/events/an-evening-with-bernard-cornwell-at-st-jamess-church-london/london-piccadilly

View more on Bernard Cornwell's website »

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Published on August 28, 2025 12:29

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Combine Editions
Bernard Cornwell’s books

Average rating: 4.26 · 1,144,691 ratings · 50,426 reviews · 536 distinct works • Similar authors

	The Last Kingdom (The Saxon Stories, #1) 4.27 avg rating — 111,489 ratings — published 2004	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Pale Horseman (The Saxon Stories, #2) 4.31 avg rating — 61,455 ratings — published 2006 — 6 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Winter King (The Warlord Chronicles, #1) 4.26 avg rating — 54,677 ratings — published 1995 — 46 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Lords of the North (The Saxon Stories, #3) 4.36 avg rating — 52,526 ratings — published 2007 — 48 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Sword Song (The Saxon Stories, #4) 4.33 avg rating — 45,306 ratings — published 2007 — 112 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Burning Land (The Saxon Stories, #5) 4.31 avg rating — 40,857 ratings — published 2009 — 98 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Death of Kings (The Saxon Stories, #6) 4.31 avg rating — 33,878 ratings — published 2011 — 90 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Archer's Tale (The Grail Quest, #1) 4.15 avg rating — 33,555 ratings — published 2000 — 3 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Excalibur (The Warlord Chronicles, #3) 4.44 avg rating — 30,931 ratings — published 1997 — 110 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Pagan Lord (The Saxon Stories, #7) 4.37 avg rating — 30,651 ratings — published 2013 — 4 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

More books by Bernard Cornwell…

Series by Bernard Cornwell

The Last Kingdom (14 books)
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Bernard Cornwell (Goodreads Author)

4.34 avg rating — 509,964 ratings

Sharpe (24 books)
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Bernard Cornwell (Goodreads Author)

4.21 avg rating — 301,548 ratings

Richard Sharpe (24 books)
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Bernard Cornwell (Goodreads Author)

4.20 avg rating — 295,744 ratings

The Warlord Chronicles (3 books)
by

Bernard Cornwell (Goodreads Author)

4.35 avg rating — 115,546 ratings

Grail Quest (4 books)
by

Bernard Cornwell (Goodreads Author)

4.16 avg rating — 89,050 ratings

More series by Bernard Cornwell…

Heads up, history nerds! Historical fiction remains one of the busiest and most popular genres in the book business. It can be tricky just to...

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Bernard’s Recent Updates

Bernard Cornwell wrote a new blog post An Evening with Bernard Cornwell I am looking forward to participating in The Spectator evening speaker series on Monday 27 October in Westminster, London beginning at 7pmTickets: spe Read more of this blog post »
Aug 29, 2025 01:33AM · 5 likes · like

More of Bernard's books…

Quotes by Bernard Cornwell (?)

“But fate, as Merlin always taught us, is inexorable. Life is a jest of the Gods, Merlin liked to claim, and there is no justice. You must learn to laugh, he once told me, or else you'll just weep yourself to death.”
― Bernard Cornwell, The Winter King

tags: laugh, life, religion, weep

265 likes

“Destiny is all, Ravn liked to tell me, destiny is everything. He would even say it in English, “Wyrd biõ ful ãræd.”
― Bernard Cornwell, The Last Kingdom

150 likes

“Don't tell me the moon is shining, show me the glint of light on broken glass.”
― Bernard Cornwall

tags: on-writing, readers-and-writers, writing, writing-craft

126 likes

See all Bernard Cornwell's quotes »

Polls

Fantasy was the winning genre for June. Please place your vote for the book you'd most like to read. Last day to vote will be Sunday, May 18.

Daughter of the Forest

Juliet Marillier

3 votes, 37.5%

Grendel

John Gardner

2 votes, 25.0%

A Song for Arbonne

Guy Gavriel Kay

2 votes, 25.0%

Beauty

Robin McKinley

1 vote, 12.5%

The Once and Future King

T.H. White

0 votes, 0.0%

The Winter King

Bernard Cornwell

0 votes, 0.0%

Pawn of Prophecy

David Eddings

0 votes, 0.0%

Ombria in Shadow

Patricia A. McKillip

0 votes, 0.0%

8 total votes

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