David Woodman The First King of England review, recensie en informatie boek over koning Æthelstan en de geboorte van een koninkrijk. Op 2 september 2025 verschijnt bij Princeton University Press het boek van de Engelse historicus David Woodman over Æthelstan, de eerste Engelse koning. Er is geen Nederlandse vertaling van het boek verkrijgbaar.
David Woodman The First King of England review en recensie
- “A fascinating, meticulously researched, and vital new study of the man who has the best claim to be the first true king of England. David Woodman takes us as close as we can ever hope to get to the personality of Æthelstan, and in doing so shines a light on an intriguing and formative period in British history.” (Dan Jones)
- “England’s founding father deserves this book: at once scholarly and accessible, attentive to every last morsel of detail yet possessed of a thrillingly epic sweep. David Woodman has done Æthelstan proud.” (Tom Holland)
- “A magisterial account not only of England’s first king, but of the kingdom itself. Beautifully written and filled with insights, it sheds new light on Æthelstan, his life, and his times.” (Peter Frankopan)
The First King of England
Æthelstan and the Birth of a Kingdom
- Auteur: David Woodman (Engeland)
- Soort boek: Engelse geschiedenis, historische biografie
- Taal: Engels
- Uitgever: Princeton University Press
- Verschijnt: 2 september 2025
- Omvang: 344 pagina’s
- Uitgave: gebonden boek / ebook
- Prijs: $ 35,00
- Boek bestellen bij: Amazon / Bol / Libris
Flaptekst van het boek over Æthelstan de eerste koning van Engeland
From one of today’s leading historians of the early medieval period, an enthralling chronicle of Æthelstan, England’s founder king whose achievements of 927 rival the Norman Conquest of 1066 in shaping Britain as we know it.
The First King of England is a foundational biography of Æthelstan (d. 939), the early medieval king whose territorial conquests and shrewd statesmanship united the peoples, languages, and cultures that would come to be known as the “kingdom of the English.” In this panoramic work, David Woodman blends masterful storytelling with the latest scholarship to paint a multifaceted portrait of this immensely important but neglected figure, a man celebrated in his day as much for his benevolence, piety, and love of learning as he was for his ambitious reign.
Set against the backdrop of warring powers in early medieval Europe, the book sheds new light on Æthelstan’s early life, his spectacular military victories and the innovative way he governed his kingdom, his fostering of the church, the deft political alliances he forged with Europe’s royal houses, and his death and enduring legacy. It begins with the reigns of Alfred the Great and Edward the Elder, Æthelstan’s grandfather and father, describing how they consolidated and expanded the “kingdom of the Anglo-Saxons.” But it was Æthelstan who would declare himself the first king of all England when, in 927, he conquered the viking kingdom at York, required the submission of a Scottish king, and secured an annual tribute from the Welsh kings.
Beautifully illustrated and breathtaking in scope, The First King of England is the most comprehensive, up-to-date biography of Æthelstan available, bringing a magisterial richness of detail to the life of a consequential British monarch whose strategic and political sophistication was unprecedented for his time.