{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2014}} {{short description|1997 novel by Julian Rathbone}} {{Infobox book | <!-- See Wikipedia:WikiProject Novels or Wikipedia:WikiProject Books --> | name = The Last English King | title_orig = | translator = | image = The Last English King.jpg | caption = First edition | author = Julian Rathbone | illustrator = | cover_artist = | country = United Kingdom | language = English | series = | genre = Historical novel | publisher = Little, Brown | release_date = 1997 | english_release_date = | media_type = Print (hardback & paperback) | pages = 381 pp | isbn = 0-316-64139-1 | oclc= 38427719 | preceded_by = | followed_by = }} {{All plot|date=March 2024}} '''''The Last English King''''' (1997) is a historical novel by English writer Julian Rathbone.<ref>{{Cite web |date= |title=Last English King by Julian Rathbone |url=https://www.publishersweekly.com/9780312242138 |access-date=2024-04-01 |website=Publishers Weekly}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Marsden |first=Gordon |date=1997-12-13 |title=Book: The Last English King by Julian Rathbone Little, Brown, £16.99 |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/book-the-last-english-king-by-julian-rathbone-little-brown-pounds-16-99-1288459.html |work=Independent}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |url=https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/julian-rathbone/the-last-english-king/ |title=The Last English King |publisher=Kirkus Reviews |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Kirby |first=David |date=2000-01-09 |title=The Last English King |url=https://archive.nytimes.com/www.nytimes.com/books/00/01/09/bib/000109.rv084611.html |access-date=2024-04-01 |website=New York Times}}</ref> The novel covers the time of the Battle of Hastings. It revolves around Walt Edwinson, a housecarl of Harold Godwinson, the last Anglo-Saxon king of England.
== Plot == The story starts with Walt returning to his home at Iwerne in Dorset four years after the Battle of Hastings. He had fled England after the defeat of the Anglo-Saxons and had spent the time travelling across Europe and Asia Minor. The story of his journey from Constantinople via Nicomedia and Nicaea to Side is then recounted in parallel with his recollections of the time before the battle, such as his accompanying Harold to William of Normandy's attack on Dinan.
[[Image:Bayeux Tapestry scene19 detail Castle Dinan.jpg|thumb|350px|right|The Bayeux Tapestry: William of Normandy attacks Dinan]]
At the end of the novel the death of Harold is described. Rathbone has him buried in a shroud made from a banner depicting the "Fighting Man of Cerne".
== References == <references /> {{DEFAULTSORT:Last English King}} Category:1997 British novels Category:1997 English-language novels Category:English novels Category:Novels set in Anglo-Saxon England Category:Little, Brown and Company books Category:Novels set in the 11th century Category:Cultural depictions of Harold Godwinson Category:Novels set in Dorset Category:Cultural depictions of Edward the Confessor Category:Cultural depictions of William the Conqueror {{1990s-hist-novel-stub}}