An Insight into the Lifestyle of a 10th century Monarch
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Oh how I wish history books had been written like this when I was at school. All those dreary tomes that I remember having to wade through for history examinations. The author's writing style is vibrant, interesting and makes reading history what it should be, exciting.
Aethelred was knownduring his lifetime as a notoriously weak king, at a time when physical strength and power was everything. He came to the throne at an early age following the death of his father King Edgar and the subsequent murder of his half brother, Edward the Martyr. The addition to his name the unready has been a matter of conjecture by scholars for many years. Some say that he was ill prepared for his kingship but it is far more likely that it derives from the Anglo-Saxon Unræd, which means "without counsel", "ill-advised" or "indecisive".
Although he had quite a lengthy reign, there is much that is not known, or has not been told about him. This book does much to fill in the gaps. The book is not everybody's cup of tea I know but I enjoyed it immensely and I am sure that anyone else with a love of English history would do so too.
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Too busy to be unraedy ?
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I found this quite easy to read and even handed in its opinions and conclusions. I do disagree with the other reviewers who think it is wonderful, as it just didn't bring Aethelred to life for me at all.
It was very good at showing he could not have been "unready" etc in the popular image history has unfairly given him, after all he had a very long reign and struggled through a resurgence of viking activity, and it would seem government and the concept of England continued.
The book always seems to portray him responding to situations rather than being in control as say an Alfred.Of course most kings do not do well in comparison to Alfred, and we lack the source material compared to Alfred's time.
A good book, but I would like to think there could be more on this subject to come.Perhaps it was the lack of sources and information on the man, that the author had to work with, left me wanting more.
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Stunning!
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One of the many pleasures of this book, by one of the most prolific, creative and influential historians of the past twenty years, is how thoroughly it demonstrates the jagged, conflict-ridden history of the time.
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A book that sets new standards!
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This is a critical, balanced and endlessly fascinating account of a fairly unkown King. A totally fascinating and impressive achievement. I do hope that Lavelle writes another book soon.
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A well researched and hard-headed portrait.
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A splendidly thorough and compellingly written account. Lavelle is to be congratulated not only for his diligence in sifting fact from fiction, but also in resisting the estoteric history-book style.
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