Alfred the Great

by David Sturdy

A revealing reassessment of English King Alfred (c. 848-900), a successful and heroic battle leader with rare strategic insights as well as a philosopher king who wrote and issued his own versions of spiritual and pastoral classics. 268 pp 6 x 9 12 pp b/w illustrations, 6 maps

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Biography

Paperback

First published January 1, 1995

Reviews

[Eric]

Most people I speak to have heard nothing of Alfred the Great, which is a shame. He was a great man, indeed, the only English to king to receive the title “Great.” It was richly deserved.
Alfred was king of the English kingdom of Wessex from 871 to 899. During his reign, he repelled the Vikings from Wessex, the last kingdom to withstand the Danish onslaught. He restored monasteries to their former glory. He constructed defenses around strategic towns, including London, many of which are visible today. Perhaps most importantly, he and a Dream Team of scholars translated several important historical and religious texts from Latin to English, making them accessible to the common peasant. Many historians feel strongly that Alfred not only saved the English from permanent Danish occupation, but also saved the English language from possible extinction.

It would have been nice if David Sturdy had mentioned some of this in his book. Instead, Sturdy approached Alfred by examining deeds, grants and charters, analyzing the signees and trying to get an idea of who was who among Alfred’s governors and advisors. So, while we learned that Osric, a close relative of Alfred on his mother’s side, may have been Alfred’s commander-in-chief of the household guards or chief-of-staff to the king, that doesn’t tell us much about Alfred himself.

Sturdy relied heavily on The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle for his historical narratives, a newspaper-like scroll started sometime during Alfred’s reign and appearing periodically until the Norman Conquest. However, The Chronicle, while a treasure trove of information about England and Europe in the late 800s and 900s, isn’t always reliable.

I was ultimately disappointed by the book, since I was looking for more information about Alfred, rather than obscure ministers and chiefs-of-staff.

[Shake n' Vac]

Excellent review below. Yes, Sturdy goes beyond the basic biography of someone like McNair Scott: he bravely uses charter evidence to recreate mini-biographies of the Wessex elite, however, these - fully admitted - are of course vague, and can end up feeling simply like a list; they may have been better suited to an academic journal. The final section, on Alfred's reinvention by succeeding generations, stands testament to the manipulation of people past to reflect the individual narratives of the 'historians' of today and I doubt these 'historians' will be any kinder to Sturdy if they disagree with him than he is to some of his contemporaries and predecessors. This book is more than worthy of a read, especially if going beyond the basics.

[Ashley Lindsay · Rating 5 out of 5]

Not so very much about Alfred, but more about the world he grew up and ruled in. With an extremely detailed record of his charters and the men who witnessed them you get a sense of how familial the power structure was. A family business for sure. But my greatest takeaway was learning of his eldest daughter Æthelflæd. Have already ordered a book devoted solely to her...

[Edoardo Albert · Rating 4 out of 5]

There are quite a few books on Alfred the Great around, and even more if you look at the back catalogue, and I've read most of them, so it's unusual to find one that adds anything - David Sturdy's does. He does this by, first, providing a fresh translation of the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, around which he weaves the story of Alfred and Wessex, and then through a forensic examination and interrogation of the charters that survive from the 9th century. This proves particularly fruitful, as the gradual movement of magnates and priests up the rigid hierarchy of signatories tells the reader much of the political and social system of the time. It also allows Sturdy to reconstruct, in more detail that one would expect, the lives of some of these individuals, presenting Bishop Werferth, for instance, as tutor to the young Alfred. The emphasis on the charters also provides a greater understanding of the actual workings of Alfred's Wessex than other books I have read; the imagination is fired by the image of the magnates of the land lining up to place their hands, as witnesses, upon the charter document lying upon the altar, whether of a great church or a hastily erected field chapel set up on campaign. The book is further enlivened by Sturdy's waspish comments on the judgements of other historians. All in all, while I wouldn't recommend this as the first, or even the second, book to read on Alfred, it is excellent for shedding new light on the subject for a reader who already knows a good deal about the king.