Saxons vs. Vikings, Ed West
Saxons vs. Vikings, Ed West
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Saxons vs. Vikings
Alfred the Great and England in the Dark Ages

Author: Ed West

Narrator: Steven Crossley

Unabridged: 4 hr 39 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 05/10/2022


Synopsis

A witty and concise look at the beginnings of English history, when the nation consolidated after clashes between the Saxons and invading VikingsIn 871, three of England’s four kingdoms were overrun by Vikings, the ruthless, all-conquering Scandinavian raiders who terrorized early medieval Europe. With the Norsemen murdering one king with arrows and torturing another to death by ripping out his lungs, the prospects that faced the kingdom of Wessex were bleak. Worse still, the Saxons were now led by a young man barely out of his teens who was more interested in God than fighting. Yet within a decade, Alfred—the only English king known as the Great—had driven the Vikings out of half of England, and his children and grandchildren would unite the country a few years later. This period, popular with fans of television shows such as Vikings and The Last Kingdom, saw the creation of England as a nation-state, with Alfred laying down the first national law code, establishing an education system, and building cities.Saxons vs. Vikings also covers the period before Alfred, including ancient Britain, the Roman occupation, and the Dark Ages, explaining important historical episodes such as Boudicca, King Arthur, and Beowulf.Perfect for newcomers to the subject, this is the second title in the A Very, Very Short History of England series. If you’re trying to understand England and its history in the most informative and entertaining way possible, this is the place to start.

About Ed West

Ed West is the recently appointed associate director of UK2020, a British policy think tank. Before that, Ed was deputy editor of the Catholic Herald and a frequent contributor to the Daily Telegraph, Times, Evening Standard, Daily Express, and Guardian. He is a popular British twitter personality and blogs for The Spectator. He currently lives in London.

About Steven Crossley

Steven Crossley is one of a select group of narrators who have recorded over two hundred audiobooks. He has won multiple AudioFile Earphones Awards, including for The Ground Beneath Her Feet by Salman Rushdie and Sharpe's Fury by Bernard Cornwell. He graduated from the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London and has established an acting career on both sides of the Atlantic in theater, television, film, and radio drama, performing with distinguished theater companies in New York and London. He is a member of the internationally acclaimed company Complicite. His audiobook performances cover an eclectic range of subjects in both fiction and nonfiction, from thrillers, mysteries, classics, and histories to children's fantasy and biographies.These include works by such writers as Pat Barker, Joseph Conrad, Oscar Wilde, Sebastian Faulkes, Zadie Smith, Ian McKewan, and Tana French.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Anne

Who knew history could be this funny? I laughed quite a bit while listening to this, and now have to say I'm a lot more interested in finding out more about the people we call Vikings. And while I don't think this is exactly comprehensive, it is a very fun introduction to some of what was going on du......more

Great on the dry humour, gentle and not-so-gentle irony and the merciless use of 1000 years' worth of hindsight, but lower on the handles I needed to get a better grip on this particular era. An attempt at better structure may have helped, as it was needed (for me). As it is, it felt like Ed West wa......more

Goodreads review by Noah

Historians aren’t particularly funny people, and when I start reading a work of popular history and it becomes apparent that the author thinks he’s a comedian, my usual impulse is to cringe. But Ed West is actually pretty funny, his jokes do not make me cringe, and he gets away with writing this his......more

Goodreads review by Wee

Lots of interesting titbits you might not know about Alfred the great in this book 😁......more