David Horspool

Alfred the Great kept the Kingdom of Wessex intact in the face of viking threats, and established the basis for a unified England. For this, he deserves some fame. But Alfred lived in the Dark Ages, and there are few contemporary accounts of his life - and those that exist (the Anglo-Saxon Chronicles and Bishop Asser's biography) may not be fully reliable. In the gaps grew myths. Horspool explores the multitude of myths, but in the end we are left uncertain whether any are reliable. It seems that every story, like the burning cakes, are apocryphal. It is even unclear how he managed to keep Wessex secure. For a reader that was expecting some clarity, this will disappoint.… (més)

Engaging and readable biography of Alfred the Great, the only English ruler known as “The Great” and the highest ranking king (14th) on a BBC poll of the 100 Greatest Britons. (Elizabeth I was 7th, so he’s not the highest ranking ruler). Author David Horspool notes that Alfred is often conflated with Arthur in public imagination – when he said he was working on a life of Alfred many helpful friends sent him clippings, web sites, and TV listings, all of which were about Arthur, not Alfred. (Horspool notes that Arthur is a lot of myth with a little history mixed in, and Alfred is some history with a little myth mixed in). Alfred also gets credited with a lot of things he didn’t actually accomplish, which Horspool debunks:
• Unification of England (it was still four kingdoms – West Sussex, Mercia, Northumbria, and East Anglia – at the end of his reign)
• Establishment of the jury system (no evidence for that)
• Codification of English law (Alfred did write a law code, but it was based on earlier ones, and Henry II should get more credit)
• Founding of the British Navy (Alfred did build some ships, but there had been royal ships before him. However, the song Rule, Britannia! is the closing chorus of a 1740 play about his life)
• Founding Oxford University (no evidence for that, however, there’s some archaeological evidence Alfred founded the town of Oxford. The city of Alfred, New York, is named after Alfred the Great, and there’s an Alfred University and an Alfred State College there, so Alfred has some cross-the-pond academic institutions)
Still, Alfred seems to have been a reasonably effective military leader, recovering from a disastrous defeat at Chippenham to defeat the Vikings at Edington and persuade their leader, Guthrum, to accept baptism. Alfred was also an accomplished scholar, literate in both Old English and Latin, and overseeing or personally translating several books (Pastoral Care, Gregory the Great; Consolation of Philosophy, Boethius; Soliloquies, St. Augustine; the first fifty Psalms; and possibly other books).

Horspool discusses the Alfred myths (the burning of the cakes) and the accuracy of Asser’s biography of Alfred (this has gone through academic purgatory, being accepted as authentic, dismissed as a later forgery, and now believed to be authentic by most scholars in the field).

There’s an add-on chapter of the 2013 discovery of part of a pelvis which might belong to Alfred in museum storage; a photograph appears in the text and on the back cover of my paperback edition. I can’t say there’s much resemblance.

I found this a quick, easy, and enjoyable book; Horspool’s writing combines serious scholarship with appropriate levity. Lots of illustrations. No end- or footnotes, but Horspool credits his sources in his text, and there’s a “Further Reading” section in the endpapers.… (més)

I'm familiar with the statue of warty old Cromwell staring down with an accusational finger pointing towards me as I walk around my local town which was one of his old familiar haunts. Outside of that, and his old home in Ely, my knowledge of him was a little hazy. This book has helped me to better understand Cromwell's life and the events that shaped him. The success and failures, his treacherous treatment of Ireland, his political career, and his strange monarch-like non-monarch position as Lord Protector. I found it fairly easy to read, and the chapters well paced. The family tree at the front (which seems customary of these Penguin Monarchs books), helped me to get a grip with some of the names mentioned, and I felt that the book gave me enough to feel I 'know' something of his time in our history.… (més)

A thoroughly researched and relatively detailed account of the Anglo-Saxon King credited with the creation of the notion of a united 'England': Alfred the Great is the only Monarch of England or the UK labelled 'Great' - this History of his Life goes some way to explain why he has remained such an icon 1,500+ years after his reign. The author examines and debunks much of the mythical tales surrounding Alfred's character & conduct and replaces them with factual, reasoned explanation of the circumstances in which he led the struggle against Vikings and Danes and his personal qualities of leadership that brought him the recognition as the 'GREAT' King. An additional chapter discusses the very recent remarkable find of bone fragments in Winchester that have been confidently identified as those of Alfred.… (més)