Rate this book

The White Horse King: The Life Of Alfred The Great (2009)

by Benjamin R. Merkle(Favorite Author)

4.17 of 5 Votes: 3

ISBN

1595552529 (ISBN13: 9781595552525)

languge

English

genre

History & Biography

publisher

Thomas Nelson Publishers

review 1: Benjamin Merkle does an excellent job of making this book both exciting to read and also very informative in historical accuracy.The reader will get a clear picture of Alfred the Great, how at a mere twenty-two years of age "arranged the might of Wessex for an assault on the Viking defenses, a daunting task." The Danes were known for their ferocity in battle, "the true skill of the Viking forces was the ability to maximize their raping, pillaging, and plundering, while minimizing the chances of facing another army on the open field of battle."Merkle describes the battles and tactics in detail,"Even as early as the time of Alfred, the shieldwall was already considered an ancient tactic, hearkening all the way back to the ancient Greek hoplites of the seventh century BC. It ... moreconsisted simply of a line of men standing shoulder to shoulder with their shields overlapping one another, forming a coninuous wall of protection. This line of shields was supported be a depth of approximately ten ranks of additional solders positioned behind the fron line, leaning into the front rank to allow them to hold their ground and stay locked together..."And more personally, the angst that Alfred surely felt when his brother delayed in bringing out his troops to do battle alongside Alfred's at Ashdown. "An historian would later explain (his brother's delay),'he was lingering long in his prayers.'"Alfred married Ealswith, a Mercian, to whom he remained married for the rest of his life. Merkle explains that there is not much information about this relationship because, "Like all Anglo-Saxon men, he did not with to share with the world his romantic affections for his wife." Together they had two sons and three daughters.In AD 871, Alfred was crowned King of Wessex and the Vikings continued to harass the kingdom.This book has enough of the personal accounts mixed with factual detail to make it a exceptionally interesting.I would recommend this book for teens through adults. I think the elementary age student might get bogged down in the detail, the details for which the book is terrific for the older reader.
review 2: The White Horse King is a book written about the life of Alfred the Great as he led the kingdoms of Britain in a battle against the vikings and then afterward as "he sparked a literary renaissance, restructured Britain's roadways, revised the legal codes, and revived Christian learning and worship." In other words, it's a historical fiction book written about an underdog king who beat out the Vikings and overhauled the British ways of learning and worship.When I picked up this book I thought it was going to be an adventure story mingled with history like other historical fiction novels I've read. The problem for me was that the writing was in more of a historical format than a compelling storyline, and really I just got bored. After the fifth chapter of the wars between the Brits and vikings, I just wanted to stop reading because Alfred's life is nowhere near as exciting as say Cleopatra. The author did do a good job of portraying Alfred the Great in an "underdog" type of feel, a man who came up against all odds and with the help of God was able to overcome great obstacles.If you like history, then this book might be for you. It wasn't for me because of the subject matter, but the writing was easy enough to read and understand. less

Download links for: The White Horse King: The Life of Alfred the Great

Advertising