Leaving aside my wife, children, cats, Mustafa at the corner shop and, latterly, Sapan, my personal trainer, my closest companion this past year and a bit has probably been Uhtred of Bebbanburg, fearsomely violent 9th-century warlord. I’ve also been in regular contact with the office and one or two pals, but only by phone, email or Zoom. There’s no getting around it, Uhtred is right up there as a lockdown buddy. Even though he is a (largely) fictional character who’s been dead for 1,100 years. He’s very much alive in the (thus far) 13 books of the Last Kingdom saga by Bernard Cornwell, now televised and a lot like

Source: The Times May 28, 2021 22:52 UTC