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Conscience of the King

by Alfred Duggan

First published 1951

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4.1(52)

Cerdic Elesing looks back on the calculated betrayals and shifting loyalties that carried him from obscurity to the kingship of the West Saxons. Moving between British and Saxon camps, he serves Ambrosius Aurelianus, deals with invading warlords and measures every alliance by whether it will advance his own house.

Cerdic presents himself without apology as a survivor who lies, plunders and kills when power requires it. His rise brings him into the legendary struggle associated with Arthur and Mount Badon, while the novel reconstructs post-Roman Britain as a fractured world in which Roman institutions, British kingdoms and new Saxon settlements overlap.

Historical Periods

Arthurian BritainLegendary setting, conventionally c. 5th–6th centuries CE Anglo-Saxon Settlement of Britain5th–6th centuries CE

Genres

Biographical Fiction Court & Political Fiction Dynastic & Royal Fiction War Fiction

Historical people

King ArthurLegendary; traditionally placed in the 5th–6th centuries Ambrosius Aurelianusfl. fifth century

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