The Kingdom of the Anglo-Saxons: The Wars of King Alfred 865-899

by Paul Hill

Overview

This ninth century history of Alfred the Great’s leadership is “a work of extraordinary scholarship that reads with all the narrative style of a novel” (Midwest Book Review).
 
In this compelling military and political history of the Anglo-Saxon kingdom, Paul Hill explores England’s birth amidst the devastation and fury of the Danish invasions of the ninth century.
 
Alfred the Great, youngest son of King Æthelwulf, took control of the last surviving Anglo-Saxon kingdom, bringing Wessex and the “English” parts of Mercia together into a new “Kingdom of the Anglo-Saxons.” This is a story of betrayal and of vengeance, of turncoat oath-breakers and loyal commanders, of battles fought and won against the odds.
 
But above all, this is the story of how England came into being.
 
Warfare in Alfred’s England changed from attritional set-piece battles to a grander strategic concern. This is explored, demonstrating how defense-in-depth fortification networks were built across the resurgent kingdom in the wake of Alfred’s victory at Edington in 878. The arrival of new Danish armies into England in the 890s would lead to campaigns quite unlike those of the previous generation.
 
This is a human, as well as a military story: how a king demonstrated the importance of his right to rule. Alfred sought to secure the succession on his son Edward, who led his own forces as a young man in the 890s. But not everybody was happy in Alfred’s England. Despite the ever-present threat from the Danes, the greatest challenge facing Alfred arose from his own kin, centered deep in the heart of ancient Wessex. Alfred knew his was not the only branch of the family who claimed a right to rule.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781526782502
Publisher:	Pen & Sword Books Limited
Publication date:	07/07/2023
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	280
Sales rank:	1,023,424
File size:	94 MB
Note:	This product may take a few minutes to download.

About the Author

Paul Hill, formerly curator of Kingston Upon Thames Museum in Surrey, is well known as a lecturer, author and expert on Anglo-Saxon and Norman history and military archaeology, and he has written several books on these subjects, among them The Age of Athelstan: Britain's Forgotten History, The Viking Wars of Alfred the Great and The Anglo-Saxons at War 800-1066.

Table of Contents

Photograph Credits vi

List of Maps and Plans x

A Note on the Charters xi

Introduction 1

Part 1 The First Danes 7

Chapter 1 The Great Suffering 8

Chapter 2 Wessex Rises 21

Chapter 3 Noble Wolf 38

Chapter 4 Decimation and Division 55

Part 2 The Kingdoms Collapse 71

Chapter 5 The Great Heathen Army 72

Chapter 6 Martyrdom 87

Chapter 7 Ashdown and the Wars of Attrition 871-877 97

Chapter 8 Restored to Life - Edington 878 137

Part 3 The Rebuilding 155

Chapter 9 The Lord of the Mercians 156

Chapter 10 Fortification and Reform 165

Chapter 11 London 188

Chapter 12 The Dividing Line 194

Part 4 A Different Kind of War 203

Chapter 13 Edward the Ætheling is Tested 204

Chapter 14 Benfleet and Shoebury 220

Chapter 15 Alfred's Final Battles 226

Bibliography 251

Index 262

Editorial Reviews

A work of extraordinary scholarship that reads with all the narrative style of a novel…

Midwest Book Review

[R]ecommended. Written for a semi-popular market, it is all the same a serious contribution to Alfredian studies: a readable, accurate, well-informed, and thoroughly competent piece of work.

Mediaevistik