About this title: In the days of King Alfred, the whole country of Britain was for years overrun by hordes of pagan barbarians, who slaughtered, plundered, and destroyed at will. From this terrible state of subjection and suffering the Saxons were rescued by the prudence, patience, valor, and wisdom of King Alfred.
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Binding: Softcover
Publisher: Quiet Vision Pub
Date Published: 2004-09-30
ISBN-13:9781576468890ISBN:1576468895
Description: NEW. Softcover. From an inventory that is 100% brand-new, 100% direct from the publishers' distribution channel. We carry NO pre-owned, NO remaindered. We pack in CARDBOARD to ensure the pristine quality is maintained. (Bubble-wrap alone is NOT sufficient to protect from USPS equipment. ) Guaranteed brand-NEW, protected with CARDBOARD, your satisfaction is guaranteed. BKLUVID: 9781576468890. read more
Description: New. AUDIOBOOK. NOT A BOOK! Please order accordingly! All Audiobooks are in the original factory sealed shrinkwrap box! Box may show signs of dents, etc. All CD's Are guaranteed to play! Audio CD, New, 2008, read more
Binding: Paperback
Publisher: Dodo Press
Date Published: 2007
ISBN-13:9781406562132ISBN:1406562130
Description: New. BRAND NEW and ready for dispatch. Delivery normally within 4/7 days. Our reputation is built on our Speedy Delivery Service and our Customer Service Team. read more
Edition: Reprint Edition
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Mershon Company, New York
Description: Staniland, C. J. 288 pages + book ads, frontis plate, b/w illustrations by C.J. Staniland; 12mo, gray cloth, design front cover and colored borders. Private library label inside front cover, very good-; no dust jacket. In clear Brodart sleeve. read more
Description: Staniland, C J. Good. No dust jacket as issued. 322 p. New York circa 1920-edition not stated-hardback binding in publishers original light olive green cloth covers with red lettering-spine shows a soldier with a saber down towards the ground-front boards show soldiers with guns and some with bayonnets and the top shows sailor at the helm of a ship-pages are foxed but clean and unmarked-pages are beginning to loosen but are still tight-corners and spine ends of the boards show lots of shelfwear read more
Description: Very good in good dust jacket. Or, The Days of King Alfred. Green cloth with pictorial spine and black titles. 4 b/w plates. Foxing to outer page edges. Pictorial wrapper is price-cut, edge-torn and chipped, with some loss. read more
Binding: Paperback
Publisher: BiblioBazaar, LLC
Date Published: 2007
ISBN-13:9781434646408ISBN:1434646408
Description: New. BRAND NEW and ready for dispatch. Delivery normally within 4/7 days. Our reputation is built on our Speedy Delivery Service and our Customer Service Team. read more
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Bastian Books
Date Published: 2008
ISBN-13:9780554373782ISBN:0554373785
Description: New. BRAND NEW and ready for dispatch. Delivery normally within 4/7 days. Our reputation is built on our Speedy Delivery Service and our Customer Service Team. read more
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Bastian Books
Date Published: 2008
ISBN-13:9780554280752ISBN:0554280752
Description: New. BRAND NEW and ready for dispatch. Delivery normally within 4/7 days. Our reputation is built on our Speedy Delivery Service and our Customer Service Team. read more
"I have heard lots of rave reviews about G.A. Henty's books, especially in home school education circles where his books are widely regarded as a great way to help children (especially boys) to enjoy learning about history. This was my first opportunity to read a Henty book, and I must say that solely based upon all the hipe I was disappointed by this book. I'm hopeful that I just didn't pick out one of his better works for my initial Henty read and plan to try again at least once more.
From what I know of Henty, it is my understanding that he would meticulously research a topic/period from history, and then he would write a novel in which he would plop a fictional character (usually a British teenager) down into the story beside a famous historical figure involved in that particular event. This fictional character would then observe "first-hand" all of the details that Henty had uncovered in his research. What surprised me in my reading of The Dragon and The Raven was that the vast majority of the book was about the (presumably) fictional character Edmund and relatively little of it was about King Alfred himself. This in spite of the fact that the book is sub-titled "Or The Days of King Alfred".
The book includes lots of details about various kings and kingdoms and battles which are assumed to be historical fact. But the majority of the work is about the valiant tales of the central character Edmund and all the cunning things he did to become a hero of the Saxons (and the Franks, and at least a couple Danes) and his odd romance with the daughter of the enemy. For good measure it throws in an extremely odd chapter purportedly from the historical records of a monk in a monastery outside of Paris about the many bizarre miracles performed by the patron saint of that monastery such as a particularly vile Danish villain making his bed in the church and waking up the next morning as an infant.
All in all, it was a fun read and a bit of a "page-turner" at times, but it was filled with oddities, way too many names and battles to keep straight, and it was impossible to tell what was historical fact, what was historical legend, and what was just plain fiction."
"This was a pretty good book. It's Henty, which means it spends more time on historical detail than character development and such, but the story was still interesting, and the history didn't interfere with it nearly as much as it does in some other Henty books."
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