In 865, a great Viking army landed in East Anglia, precipitating a series of wars that would last until the middle of the following century. It was in this time of crisis that the modern kingdoms of Britain were born. In their responses to the Viking threat, these kingdoms forged their identities as hybrid cultures: vibrant and entrepreneurial peoples adapting to instability and opportunity. Traditionally, Ælfred the Great is cast as the central player in the story of Viking Age Britain. But Max Adams, while stressing the genius of Ælfred as war leader, law-giver, and forger of the English nation, has a more nuanced and variegated narrative to relate. The Britain encountered by the Scandinavians of the ninth and tenth centuries was one of regional diversity and self-conscious cultural identities: of Picts, Dál Riatans and Strathclyde Britons; of Bernicians and Deirans, East Anglians, Mercians and West Saxons.

The story of Aelfred the Great, his war against the Vikings and the foundations of modern Britain. In AD 865, a 'great host' of battle-hardened Norse warriors landed on England's eastern coast, overwhelmed East Anglia with terrifying swiftness and laid the North to waste. Ghosting along estuaries and inshore waters, in 871 they penetrated deep into the southern kingdom of Wessex, ruled over by a new and untested king, Ælfred son of Æðelwulf. It seemed as though the End of Days was come. Max Adams tells the story of the heroic efforts of Ælfred, his successors and fellow-kings of Britain, to adapt and survive in the face of an apocalyptic threat; and in so doing, to lay the foundations of the nations of modern Britain in all their regional diversity.

Reproduction of the original: King Alfred of England by Jacob Abbott

Abraham Lincoln raved that this series of historical biographies gave him just that knowledge of past men and events which I need. I have read them with the greatest interest. To them I am indebted for about all the historical knowledge I have.Considered what we would now call young adult literature, this collection, first published between 1848 and 1871, was designed to present a clear, distinct, connected narrative of the lives of the great figures of world history, those people who have been most influential, at least as American author and educator JACOB ABBOTT (1803-1879) saw it from his 19th-century perspective.Wildly popular and republished many times under different collected names, this replica set mimics the 1904 reprint known as the Makers of History series. It will delight students of history as well as show the scholar how history telling has changed over the last few centuries.More than 30 other volumes in the series are also available from Cosimo Classics.This volume, dating from 1849, covers the Anglo-Saxon king Alfred the Great (849-899), from before his ascension to the throne through the victory over the Danes and beyond.

Originally published in 1849, this work is a non-fiction children's history book focussing on the life and times of Alfred the Great. Jacob Abbot produced many books, most notably his 'Rollo' series, which aimed to instruct young people in moral virtues as well as to keep them entertained. This publication, however, is a part of his 'Makers of History' series that details the lives of important historical figures. We are also republishing this work with a brand new introductory biography of the author. Here is the author's preface to the series explaining its aims: 'It is the object of this series of histories to present a clear, distinct, and connected narrative of the lives of those great personages who have in various ages of the world made themselves celebrated as leaders among mankind, and, by the part they have taken in the public affairs of great nations, have exerted the widest influence on the history of the human race. The end which the author has had in view is twofold: first, to communicate such information in respect to the subjects of his narratives as is important for the general reader to possess; and, secondly, to draw such moral lessons from the events described and the characters delineated as they may legitimately teach to the people of the present age. Though written in a direct and simple style, they are intended for, and addressed to, minds possessed of some considerable degree of maturity, for such minds only can fully appreciate the character and action which exhibits itself, as nearly all that is described in these volumes does, in close combination with the conduct and policy of governments, and the great events of international history.'