The Winter King
- Published
- 1 January 1995
- Pages
- 512
- ISBN-13
- 9781405928328
- Type
- novel
About this book
The Winter King opens Bernard Cornwell's Warlord Chronicles in 1995 at 512 pages, narrated by aging monk Derfel Cadarn as he recalls Arthur returning to Britain as a landless warlord holding the realm together for the child-king Mordred.
Key facts about The Winter King
Bernard Cornwell wrote The Winter King, a novel on our list. It has been out since 1995. The book has 512 pages.
We list 1 edition of this novel. Since each edition has its own ISBN, search for 9781405928328 to find the main one.
The Winter King is book 1 of 3 in The Warlord Chronicles series. The series has 3 published books. As a result, this is the book to start the series with.
Additionally, Bernard Cornwell writes Sharpe, The Crowning Mercy Trilogy and The Sailing Thrillers, plus 3 more series. Those series sit on our historical fiction, thriller and historical fantasy shelves. Meanwhile, Sharpe's Storm is the latest published Bernard Cornwell book on file, from 21 October 2025.
About Bernard Cornwell
Bernard Cornwell is a British author of historical adventure fiction, best known for immersing readers in the physical detail and moral complexity of pre-modern warfare. His breakout Sharpe series follows Richard Sharpe, a low-born British soldier rising through the ranks during the Napoleonic Wars, and became a household name in Britain thanks to the long-running ITV adaptation starring Sean Bean. See every Bernard Cornwell book in order.
Its place in The Warlord Chronicles
The Winter King is book 1 in the The Warlord Chronicles series. It is followed by Enemy of God. See the full The Warlord Chronicles reading order.
The Warlord Chronicles is Bernard Cornwell's retelling of the King Arthur legend, stripped of magic and chivalric romance and rebuilt as gritty post-Roman history. The story is narrated decades after the fact by Derfel Cadarn, an aging monk and former warrior looking back on his youth as one of Arthur's sworn soldiers, and it reframes Arthur not as a crowned king but as a landless warlord holding fractured Britain together by force of will and force of arms while the rightful child-king Mordred grows into a…
Editions
- edition · unknown publisher · — · ISBN 9781405928328