Download Alfred the Great Justin Pollard 8601300399393 Books

Product details Paperback 368 pages Publisher John Murray (June 29, 2006) Language English ISBN-10 0719566665

Alfred the Great Justin Pollard 8601300399393 Books Reviews

• Why read a biography of a ninth-century English king? Because he was a great military leader? Compared with, say, Julius Caesar or with Alfred's near-contemporary Charlemagne, King Alfred was hardly great. He did prevent Danish invaders from over-running England, but that alone isn't what made him great. What made Alfred "great" was what he did for English culture and the rule of law. At a time when Latin was the language of law, education and religion throughout Europe, Alfred wanted his court, his clergy, and his people to learn to read and write in their native tongue. To do so, Alfred had several important literary works translated into English, including certain sections of the Bible (fully five hundred years ahead of John Wycliffe's epochal translation). He rewrote Anglo-Saxon law and made it accessible to all, thereby establishing a legal framework that in time would be known as "English Common Law." In effect, Alfred started a literary revolution that led to a greater involvement in law, a higher degree of literacy, and a closer involvement with documents even amongst the lowest echelons of society. In short, he began a process that would take government out of the realm of folk memory and the monopoly of a Latin-speaking elite, and put it squarely into the hands of the people. The end result would be a democratic society.
  
  The author of this informative book, Justin Pollard, is a joy to read. You know you're in for lively story-telling when in the introduction he writes "This is not an academic discussion of the nature of Anglo-Saxon kingship--there are enough of those already--but simply an attempt to tell the story of Alfred's life, using wherever possible original sources from his time." Indeed, there are virtually no footnotes. Says Pollard "This is not to say that this book does not rely on a vast academic corpus of books and papers but I hope the authors to whose work I am indebted here will be content with a place in the bibliography and will forgive their every point not being noted individually in the text."
  
  If you can live without footnotes (not to mention a dry recitation of the facts), and wish to learn about one of the most influential, resourceful, original, and fascinating men in history, get this book. It's history, yes, but a page turner too. Five stars.
• I've read several biographies of Alfred the Great and find this the best. It feels balanced - neither hagiographic nor trying to tear down the legend all together. Others I've read seem to take pleasure in disrediting all the stories of Alfred. Granted, separating fact from fiction is difficult, given that Asser's contemporaneous biography (along with the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle) provides much of what we know of Alfred and is no doubt very slanted in Alfred's favor. However, Pollard does well in weaving together Alfred's story, while taking care to note when the factual basis for various aspects are not entirely certain. Very readable and enjoyable.
• This is a refreshing and authoritative take on the life of the enigmatic Alfred (who if remembered at all is not remembered for founding the Royal Navy, or saving England from total Viking domination or for trying to ressurect education -- he's remembered for burning the bread at Athenly), and one that any history buff would enjoy reading.
  It's not so much a direct biography of Alfred as you might think. Yes, it covers the major beats of his life, and offers intrieguing interpretations thereon, but as the only real evidence that we have of Alfred consists of the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, some charters (which Pollard reminds us more often that not have a good likelihood of having been forged), some of Alfred's own writings and translations and Asser's biography of Alfred, there is not much to hang a biographical hat on.
  Instead, Pollard, uses Alfred's life to introduce us to the times that Alfred lived in more generally. Here we meet not only the King himself, but we also see the City of Rome circa 854, a decaying shell of its former self. Then we meet with the legendary Ragnar Lothbrok, who was killed, according to Pollard, either years before Alfred was born, or when he was 13. Then there's the more concrete (and shrewd-to-a-fault) Viking warrior Weyland, whose thirst for gold may have nearly cost him his life. Gossip on the Wessex court and their Frankish counterparts is also in evidence, breathing life into the dry annals in a fascinating manner -- for instance Pollard's interpretation of Queen Judith's rather hasty and forced crowning after her marraige to Aethelwulf (The Saxons, after a nasty experience with a Queen of Mercia, were not enamored of the title) as a Frankish power play.
  The book reads very easily, and Pollard's writing is lucid and entrancing. I've read Eleanor Shipley-Duckett's seminal work on Alfred, and while astounding scholarship, her 1950's-era take is dated. Pollard's book is a must for any who want to understand Alfred and his times.
• Author Justin Pollard begins this fascinating and engaging historical work by describing the fate of the original source material and how it was partially preserved over centuries. While admitting early on that he will be relying on a single primary source ,the work of the monk Asser , he nevertheless weaves an exciting and enlightening work of biography and history out of it.
  Anglo-Saxon England besieged on all sides by Vikings and governed as small and separate Kingdoms give rise to an individual who unites the Kingdom and ultimately establishes the lineage of the future Kings of England. Alfred's decision to stay in Wessex and engage in an underground resistance rather than flee is shown to have had consequences that have echoed through the centuries.
  
  Alfred's contribution to creating a literate culture is compellingly described in a later chapter and is one of the most interesting aspects of his life. Collecting scholars to his circle and learning Latin to allow for his own interpretations of works he viewed as critical are shown to be the beginning of English culture.
  
  The stories of the social political and military developments in Alfred's time are deftly handled by the author and the book is an enjoyable way to experience the middle ages in England.