A fast-paced tale with a firm basis in historical fact, this is the story of

Aethelstan (c895-939), the Saxon king and illegitimate son of Edward the Elder.

As a boy, and the favourite of his grandfather, King Alfred, Aethelstan is brought up by Aethelflaeda, Alfred's eldest daughter, and learns invaluable lessons from her in matters of war and statecraft. Developing from boy to king, he emerges as a sympathetic man who, apart from his military prowess, establishes sound government, reforms the coinage, grants charters to towns and, in a century of legal reform, issues new laws.

The story builds to a climax with Aethelstan's final conflict, when he faces

the combined force of the Scots and Danes at Brunanburgh (937).