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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

166 posts
Bernard Cornwell's Blog

Historical Novel Society

I recently spoke with Tom Williams for an article on the Historical Novel Society website:

A hero for our time too: Sharpe’s Storm by Bernard Cornwell

View more on Bernard Cornwell's website »

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Published on February 01, 2026 12:14

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Combine Editions
Bernard Cornwell’s books

Average rating: 4.26 · 1,188,581 ratings · 52,817 reviews · 536 distinct works • Similar authors

	The Last Kingdom (The Saxon Stories, #1) 4.27 avg rating — 115,511 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) 4.32 avg rating — 63,520 ratings — published 2006	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 — 57,323 ratings — published 1995 — 8 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 — 53,990 ratings — published 2007	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 — 46,803 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 — 42,152 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 — 34,996 ratings — published 2011 — 42 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) 4.16 avg rating — 34,598 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 — 32,337 ratings — published 1997 — 111 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 — 31,641 ratings — published 2013 — 74 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)
by

Bernard Cornwell (Goodreads Author)

4.34 avg rating — 527,759 ratings

Sharpe (24 books)
by

Bernard Cornwell (Goodreads Author)

4.21 avg rating — 314,756 ratings

Richard Sharpe (24 books)
by

Bernard Cornwell (Goodreads Author)

4.21 avg rating — 308,730 ratings

The Warlord Chronicles (3 books)
by

Bernard Cornwell (Goodreads Author)

4.35 avg rating — 121,067 ratings

Grail Quest (4 books)
by

Bernard Cornwell (Goodreads Author)

4.16 avg rating — 91,883 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 Newt’s World Podcast I spoke with Newt Gingrich last month. The podcast can be heard here
Feb 02, 2026 01:27AM · 6 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

151 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

129 likes

See all Bernard Cornwell's quotes »

Polls

March Fantasy -- The following poll decides which two selections will go on to the final round for Fantasy BOTM of March 2017.

The Curse of Chalion by Lois McMaster Bujold

15 votes, 22.1%

Daughter of the Forest by Juliet Marillier

10 votes, 14.7%

All the Birds in the Sky by Charlie Jane Anders

10 votes, 14.7%

The Last Kingdom by Bernard Cornwell

9 votes, 13.2%

The Rook by Daniel O'Malley

9 votes, 13.2%

The Whitefire Crossing by Courtney Schafer

9 votes, 13.2%

War with the Newts by Karel Čapek

4 votes, 5.9%

Except the Queen by Jane Yolen & Midori Snyder

2 votes, 2.9%

68 total votes

1 comment

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Topics Mentioning This Author

topics	posts	views	last activity
Challenge: 50 Books: Emily J.'s 50 books for 2009	12	433	Mar 16, 2009 09:57AM
The Book Challenge: Poppy's Book Challenge	28	232	Apr 27, 2009 03:35PM
The Next Best Boo...: Your help please! Especially since you read...	83	791	Jul 24, 2009 10:46AM
The Next Best Boo...: I need your help! Help me make a "NEW AND IMPROVED" Required Reading List!!!	76	785	Aug 27, 2009 04:38AM
dumas pere: The Two Dianas	100	58	Sep 05, 2009 04:57PM
The Seasonal Read...: Civil War	60	248	Oct 11, 2009 11:42AM
Historical Fictio...: Currently Reading	168	283	Oct 16, 2009 01:11AM

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Bernard Cornwell

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166 posts
Bernard Cornwell's Blog

Historical Novel Society

Combine Editions
Bernard Cornwell’s books

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Bernard’s Recent Updates

Newt’s World Podcast

Polls

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Bernard Cornwell’s Followers (19,726)

Bernard Cornwell

Goodreads Author

Related News

rssBernard’s Recent Updates

Polls

Topics Mentioning This Author

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Bernard’s Recent Updates