chalicotherex's review against another edition
3.0
He kicked viking ass, loved reading and encouraged education. If you have to have a king, that's the kind you want.
udykumra's review
3.0
I've only read the Life of Alfred and bits and pieces of the rest of the book, but I believe the Life of Alfred is the soul of this book and the reason why people will even deign to pick it up.
Asser is not as entertaining of a writer as some of his Greco-Roman predecessors. He has none of the intellectual passion of Herodotus, the tactical genius of Caesar, the snarky undermining of Tacitus, or the soldier's experience in Ammianus Marcellinus. Asser falls more along the lines of the mediocre historians of the premodern world, sitting alongside the likes of Sallust, Appian, Cassius Dio, etc.
But that's okay. Asser didn't set out to revolutionize the field of history-writing. All that he wanted to do was to write a nice biography for the King he so dearly loved, and he accomplished that—and did a damn fine job.
If anyone is interested in the life of Alfred the Great, I would heartily recommend you pick up Asser's text. I will warn you, it is dry at times, but it also paints a glorious picture of this King that captured the hearts of so many in his day.
Asser is not as entertaining of a writer as some of his Greco-Roman predecessors. He has none of the intellectual passion of Herodotus, the tactical genius of Caesar, the snarky undermining of Tacitus, or the soldier's experience in Ammianus Marcellinus. Asser falls more along the lines of the mediocre historians of the premodern world, sitting alongside the likes of Sallust, Appian, Cassius Dio, etc.
But that's okay. Asser didn't set out to revolutionize the field of history-writing. All that he wanted to do was to write a nice biography for the King he so dearly loved, and he accomplished that—and did a damn fine job.
If anyone is interested in the life of Alfred the Great, I would heartily recommend you pick up Asser's text. I will warn you, it is dry at times, but it also paints a glorious picture of this King that captured the hearts of so many in his day.
deearr's review
5.0
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. I am happy that my search caused me to find this book.
The subtitle “Asser’s Life of King Alfred and other contemporary sources” is a great description of this book. Along with Asser’s biography of King Alfred (and an incredibly extensive amount of footnotes) there are also translations of religious and philosophical books. 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.
While interesting, it is not what I would call a historical page-turner. Don’t count on reading this in one or two sittings. 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). Very professional presentation. Five stars.
The subtitle “Asser’s Life of King Alfred and other contemporary sources” is a great description of this book. Along with Asser’s biography of King Alfred (and an incredibly extensive amount of footnotes) there are also translations of religious and philosophical books. 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.
While interesting, it is not what I would call a historical page-turner. Don’t count on reading this in one or two sittings. 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). Very professional presentation. Five stars.
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