"David Woodman demonstrates how Aethelstan held his enlarged kingdom together, managed the church, became a prominent European statesman, and dominated his Celtic neighbours. Both a general audience and well-informed readers will find it a most illuminating guide to early tenth-century England. Born in the year 894, Aethelstan was the third in a remarkable line of great warrior kings from Wessex."
"Woodman is a Professor of History at the University of Cambridge and the author of Edward the Confessor: The Sainted King (2020). In the preface of The First King of England, he recalls a question given to him as a Cambridge student: 'If you were to write a biography of King Aethelstan, what would its main themes be?' Woodman's answer, all these years later, is to divide the book into seven chapters, across just over 200 pages."
Aethelstan was born in 894 as the third in a line of Wessex warrior-kings. His grandfather Alfred halted Viking advances and his father Edward reconquered eastern Viking territories. In 927 Aethelstan conquered Viking Northumbria and thereby took control of all England. His fifteen-year reign secured political unity, reinforced royal authority, managed ecclesiastical affairs, and extended dominance over Celtic neighbours. Anglo-Saxon charters and administrative records reveal the methods of governance, diplomacy, and state-building that underpinned his rule. A thematic focus on youth, military campaigns, governance, and church policy clarifies the emergence of an English kingdom.
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