In this compelling military and political history of the
Anglo-Saxon kingdom, Paul Hill explores England's birth amidst the
devastation and fury of the Danish invasions of the ninth century.
He provides insight into the English response to the new challenges
of warfare in these years of turbulence and danger. Alfred the
Great, youngest son of King thelwulf, took control of the last
surviving Anglo-Saxon kingdom, bringing Wessex and the English'
parts of Mercia together into a new Kingdom of the Anglo-Saxons'.
This is a story of betrayal and of vengeance, of turncoat
oath-breakers and loyal commanders, of battles fought and won
against the odds. But above all, this is the story of how England
came into being. Warfare in Alfred's England changed from
attritional set-piece battles to a grander strategic concern. This
is explored, demonstrating how defence-in-depth fortification
networks were built across the resurgent kingdom in the wake of
Alfred's victory at Edington in 878\. The arrival of new Danish
armies into England in the 890s would lead to campaigns quite
unlike those of the Great Heathen Army of the previous generation.
This is a human, as well as a military story: how a king
demonstrated his right to rule was important. Alfred sought to
secure the succession on his son Edward, who led his own forces as
a young man in the 890s. But not everybody was happy in Alfred's
England. Despite the ever-present threat from the Danes, the
greatest challenge facing Alfred arose from his own kin, centred
deep in the heart of ancient Wessex. Alfred knew very well that his
was not the only branch of the family who claimed a right to rule.
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