Before the Tudors, before William the Conqueror, before Alfred the Great... there was Penda, one of the greatest warrior-kings in Anglo-Saxon history and creator of Mercia, one of the seven warring kingdoms that eventually united to become England. But Penda's Britain—over thirteen hundred years ago—seethed with violent struggles between rival warrior-kings who ruled by bloody sword and sealed alliances with forced marriages; this was also when Christianity was just beginning to sweep the land as most still practiced Anglo-Saxon paganism. Told from the perspective of his wife Cynewise, "The Last Great Pagan Queen" is a richly imagined and gritty tale of her marriage to a man who would become known for killing more kings than any other of his age; it is also the story of a woman just trying to make it in a savage world, where—much like today—choices were limited, men held all the power, and it took courage to survive. Note: this book contains explicit violence and adult themes.