Aethelred the Unready (Penguin Monarchs) Paperback by Richard Abels

Product Details

• Publisher: Penguin Press (2022-01-25)
• Language: English
• Paperback: 160 pages
• ISBN-13: 9780141999371
• Item Weight: 102.06 grams
• Dimensions: 7.12 x 4.4 x 0.38 cm

'Æthelred's reign of nearly thirty-eight years was the longest of any Anglo-Saxon ruler. If he had died in AD 1000, history would have remembered him more kindly'

Few monarchs of the Middle Ages have had a worse popular reputation than Æthelred II, 'the Unready', remembered as the king who lost England to Viking invaders. But, as Richard Abels shows, the failure to defend his realm was not entirely his alone. Æthelred was in many ways an innovative ruler but one whose challenges - a divided court, a fragile nascent kingdom, a voracious, hydra-headed enemy - were ultimately too great to overcome.

About the Author

Richard Abels is Professor Emeritus at the United States Naval Academy. He is the author of Alfred the Great: War, Kingship and Culture in Anglo-Saxon England and Lordship and Military Obligation in Anglo-Saxon England. He is a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society.