The year is 872, and many of the separate kingdoms of what we now know as England have fallen to the invading Danes, leaving the great kingdom of Wessex standing alone and defiant under the command of King Alfred. Against this turbulent backdrop lives our hero, Uhtred. Born the son of a Saxon nobleman, he is captured by the Danes and raised as one of their own. Forced to choose between the country of his birth and the people of his upbringing, his loyalties are ever tested. What is he? Saxon or Dane? On a quest to reclaim his birthright, Uhtred must tread a dangerous path between both sides if he is to play his part in the birth of a new nation and, ultimately, recapture his ancestral lands.

A mother sends postcards to her estranged son and daughter inviting them back to the guest house they grew up in. She gives each of her children one piece of advice and leaves them to ponder the meaning.

A librarian at the National Library in Stockholm gets access to extremely valuable and rare books. He steals and sell a large number of these to a book curator in Amsterdam.