Sure, there were probably a number of philosopher-kings out there, but the odd thing is that many of the kings that we know of, particularly the kings of England, aren’t really known for being philosophers. Okay, I’ve read it previously, but what I mean is that it felt as if the story of King Alfred was somewhat similar to another king, but I couldn’t quite place my hand upon who it was. What stood out with this book was that the story was somewhat familiar. Do count on an interesting picture of a historical figure who lived over 1000 years ago (written history by a contemporary from that long ago was enough to convince me to read the book). Don’t count on reading this in one or two sittings. While interesting, it is not what I would call a historical page-turner. All of them – for different reasons – serve to add another layer of information about King Alfred, and the author shares a wealth of knowledge with the readers. Along with Asser’s biography of King Alfred (and an incredibly extensive amount of footnotes) there are also translations of religious and philosophical books. The subtitle “Asser’s Life of King Alfred and other contemporary sources” is a great description of this book. I am happy that my search caused me to find this book. I’ve recently read a couple of fiction books (as well as binge-watched “The Last Kingdom” on Netflix), so I reasoned it was time to find out the actual story concerning the English king that people kept writing about. In anycase what we have a crafted media presentation for which we can only be grateful, for the want of anymore, his son King Edward the Elder and daughter Aethelflaed Lady of the Mercians remain in the shadows, obscurer figures far. On the other hand if not what might have inspired Asser - a Welshman not a Wessexman - to write it? Was this kingdom building through imitation - as Charlemagne had his Einhard so Alfred must have his Asser? The fact of the existence of the Life is all we have, did Alfred commission it - and if so to what end? If he did then that might explain the abruptness of the ending and the sense in places that it was a draft. It's packed full of source material - enough to get the curious going, not just Asser's life of Alfred which fascinatingly stops well before Alfred's death (did Asser just die unbeknown to us before he could finish the work?), extracts from the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle and a Latin translation thereof, as well as some wills and laws.Īlternatively if you only know Alfred from secondary material then turn to this slim volume and see what historians have to work with.Īlfred as we know him is the gift of Asser to posterity. This is a great book to get hold of if you are interested in the Anglo-Saxons or early medieval history.

Asser king alfred