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A history of the peoples of Britain, in the century and a half between the first Viking raids and the expulsion of the Vikings from York in 954; from the bestselling author of "The King Of The North" and "In The Land Of Giants".
About the author
Max Adams is the author of Admiral Collingwood, The Prometheans, the bestselling The King in the North and In the Land of Giants. He has lived and worked in the North-East of England since 1993.
Summary
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.
Foreword
A history of the peoples of Britain, in the century and a half between the first Viking raids and the expulsion of the Vikings from York in 954.
Additional text
Brilliantly combining history and archaeological research with an eye for the terrain [Aelfred's Britain is] a compelling read that is as knowledgeable on warfare in the Middle Ages as it is on civic life in Saxon London and Viking York' The Lady.
