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SUMMARY:

The Vikings were ravaging the land. The Anglo-Saxon people are disorganized and without a true leader. An unlikely king rises up from the ashes of his homeland to save his people from a pagan enemy. Through strategy and faith this king becomes the only king of Anglo-Saxon decent to ever be named “the Great”. He starts a renaissance of education and peace that the island hadn’t seen in years.

Sounds like a great movie doesn’t it? The real Alfred the great is the subject of the book by Benjamin Merkle.Mr. Merkle took the time to piece together the often controversial life of Alfred the Great in a book that makes history an easy read. It reads more like a fantasy novel than historic work but overall gives you a good basic picture of this man’s life.

MY THOUGHTS:

So, I started out reading this book like a sports car taking off the line. I was extremely interested in the topic, I found the the characters amazing, and I really didn’t want to put it down. Then…then it started to get dry. I don’t really know why, but I found myself struggling to finish this book. (I am glad I did.) I hated myself for it because Alfred himself is a controversial and amazing character that deserves to be learned about.

Myth and fact are blended here…only because the history we do have of Alfred could be  a re-write and thus be not entirely true. However, most scholars believe that most of what people said he did was true. Mr. Merkle does a great job of blending the two sides and letting you know which one he believes most.

Really the things this man did by the time he died (in his 50’s) makes my first 27 years look extremely boring. I mean really, this guy saved England from the vikings and then educated the whole nation, oh all before he was in his 40’s. I mean this guy has some serious wisdom. He strove after it, yearned for it, and wanted others to feel the same way about it. His title “The Great” was well earned and this book makes me want to learn more.

I say this book makes me want to learn more because it feels like the cliff notes of the subject. It gives me a ton of information and tries to be compelling at the same time but for some reason it isn’t. I mean it felt like the author was spewing facts at me and occasionally throwing in a thrilling story. I commend him for doing as well as he did, don’t get me wrong here. However, I just feel he either should have written a scholarly work or gone for complete entertainment. Blending them here, unlike Alfred’s myths and facts, does not work.

PEOPLE’S THOUGHTS:

“A Decent Springboard”

“Where is our White Horse King?”

“Complete History of Alfred – But it’s dry reading”

LIFE:

How do we apply this information to our lives? I mean that is  why we read right? Sure it may be entertaining, but deep down we seek to gain wisdom from the things we read.

1. Leadership comes from adversity:

You quickly learn that the reason Alfred was so great was because of his upbringing. He lived through viking raids and saw brothers and friends murdered right in front of him. He knew how precious life was and because of that he was a good leader. He knew how precious people were and treated them that way. He wanted every one to have an opportunity to become the best version of their self as they could be. I mean this man fought on the front lines at around the age of 17…shield to shield with the most fearsome warriors in the world. That will put some hair on your chest.

So take time to learn from your adversity and apply it to becoming better. Don’t waste those moments when things are hard and life seems doomed. Go after it. Fight it like a “wild boar” as Alfred was said to do.

2. Education is key:

Alfred grew up with a love for Anglo-Saxon poetry. His mother instilled this love into his life very early on (good lesson for you moms out there) and it stuck with him. Even though he was known as a great warrior, his love for knowledge and poetry was even greater. He used the information and wisdom he gained from reading to better his life and the lives of his subjects. From developing an education system to making sure his leaders were of the same mind as him, he truly changed the Anglo-Saxon world with a love for reading and a thirst for knowledge.

3. Faith and Hope matter:

In this book we learn that at one point in his life Alfred was living in a swamp while his kingdom had been overrun by the Danish Vikings. Despite this he continued to have faith in his God and hope that he would one day rule his country. We know this eventually came true, but I still can’t fathom what was going on in his head at the time.

No support, no troops, hardly any food. I mean this guy was basically a run down robin hood hiding in the swamp! He kept at it though and eventually ran a guerrilla campaign that forced the vikings out. It really proves to me that a lot of success is not talent or being in the right place at the right time, but just to shear will power. He knew he would reign again and take care of his people…so he went about life thinking that way and it got him back to the place he belonged.

RATING:

4 out of 5 stars

Definitely go out and pick up a copy of this. You can even click on the picture of the book above and help support my book buying habit! Take some time and really go through this material, there is a lot of wisdom to comb through. I will probably have to read this book about every 5 years just so that I can see his life from a different vantage point.

Related articles:

• A Saxon War Story (online.wsj.com)
• Anglo-Saxon Gold (andrewsullivan.theatlantic.com)
• Largest hoard of Anglo-Saxon treasure found in UK (seattletimes.nwsource.com)

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