Thursday, December 9, 2010

For Guthrum was a Dread King,

Like death out of the North.

The White Horse King: The Life of Alfred the GreatThe White Horse King: The Life of Alfred the Great by Benjamin R. Merkle

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


This was great. I had to return to it after I created some distance twixt it and Wodehouse (lest I judge with weighted scales), and I loved it. A solid, sober (but not at all boring) account of The Great Alfred. Very informative, very thoroughly researched (we can catch a glimpse of this from the smatterings of Anglo-Saxon that he sows), and it moves like a freight train. A very worthwhile book, and an essential book for any student of English history.



Though, I must confess, my favorite section was the great display of Viking wisdom as they sacked "Rome".



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2 comments:

Bobbi Martens said...

I loved this book! I bought it for my dad last Christmas, and read all of the marginal notes before wrapping it for him. As well as a good chunk of the body of the text.
And now I'm so much looking forward to taking a Merkle class next term. Woot!

J. A. Broussard said...

I've loved taking Hebrew from him--he's a very fun, obscenely smart man. And he named his daughter "Hero," and he can actually get away with it. I would love to try, but I'm sure my wife will be too nice to our daughters.

Wodehousian Fun