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The account of the battle in opening paragraphs of The White Horse King could have been taken straight from the pages of The Lord of the Rings.

From there the book becomes more of a historical narrative, albeit a very interesting one. Alfred was the fifth son of Æthelwulf, king of Wessex. We learn about Alfred’s formative years as the Vikings begin to attack various nations that made up Britain in the early 900’s, specifically the nation of Wessex. It was during these years that Alfred made two pilgrimages to Rome with his family. He received confirmation from Pope Leo IV during his first visit.

Alfred became known as a fierce fighter in the battles with the Vikings and after the death of his four elder brothers, he became king of Wessex. The book chronicles many of the battles and an especially low time of his life when he was forced to flee and remain in hiding from the Danish invaders until he could muster enough troops to retake his throne. It was during these years that Alfred would lead bands of men in ambush of various Viking troops and he learned much of their tactics.

The Vikings were especially brutal to to the conquered king. They would offer the defeated king in various forms of sacrifice to their god Odin. However when Alfred defeated the Viking Guthram and his army, instead of killing him, he gave Guthram the option to be baptized as a Christian. Guthram accepted this offer and was baptized and never again attacked Alfred or the kingdom of Wessex.

When Alfred retook the throne, in his most significant and lasting achievement, he completely reorganized the military structure. Instead of a disorganized band of nobles and landowners called up to fight as needed, he instituted a professional, trained standing army.

Alfred also saw the need for the people to become literate, able to read and advance in Christian learning. He brought together the best scholars he could find to help him learn Latin and then assist him in translating many texts into the vernacular of the Anglo Saxons. He established schools for the children to start learning as soon as they were able. Literacy was required for anyone serving in any form of government office.

Lastly, Alfred instituted a reworking of the entire legal code. The legal system when Alfred became king was based more on the station of the claimants in a case than anything else. “[T]he composition of the [legal code] really constituted the culmination of Alfred’s work to rebuild the defenses of Wessex and to revive learning throughout the nation.” In doing so, Alfred established the framework for what would be known as “common law,” the foundation for the legal systems of England, the United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, India and Pakistan. Interestingly enough, the code began with the Ten Commandments and included parts of Exodus 21-23 and the Sermon on the Mount all in the preface.

I read this as part of Thomas Nelson Book Review Blogger Program.