The White Horse King: The Life of Alfred the Great

(8 reviews)
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Ben Merkle

Book details

Dr. Ben Merkle is president of New Saint Andrews College in Moscow, Idaho. He has both a Master's and Doctor of Philosophy from Oxford University. His dissertation, Defending the Trinity in the Reformed Palatinate, was published by Oxford University.

AUTHOR: Ben Merkle

PUBLISHER: Thomas Nelson

PAGE COUNT: 272 pages

SIZE: 5.50x8.20"

BINDING: Paperback

ISBN 10: 1595552529

ISBN-13: 9781595552525

PUB. DATE: October 22, 2002

The unlikely king who saved England.

Down swept the Vikings from the frigid North. Across the English coastlands and countryside they raided, torched, murdered, and destroyed all in their path. Farmers, monks, and soldiers all fell bloody under the Viking sword, hammer, and axe.

Then, when the hour was most desperate, came an unlikely hero. King Alfred rallied the battered and bedraggled kingdoms of Britain and after decades of plotting, praying, and persisting, finally triumphed over the invaders.

Alfred's victory reverberates to this day: He sparked a literary renaissance, restructured Britain's roadways, revised the legal codes, and revived Christian learning and worship. It was Alfred's accomplishments that laid the groundwork for Britian's later glories and triumphs in literature, liturgy, and liberty.

What People Are Saying:

"Ben Merkle tells the sort of mythic adventure story that stirs the imagination and races the heart?and all the more so knowing that it is altogether true!" -George Grant, pastor and author in Franklin, Tennessee

Customer Reviews

Based on 8 reviews
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A
Anne B.

The White Horse King: The Life of Alfred the Great

R
Rivers H.
Very thankful that I read this book.

This book is the story of how God makes a king. Well presented and easy to read, and it taught me fascinating things that I did not know before. I'm in awe of what Alfred accomplished for the kingdom of the Anglo-Saxons, which resulted in England, which resulted (in large measure) in the Western world.

This was a very enjoyable read, and I'm thankful to have read it.

B
Bryan D.
Best book I’ve ever read

Can’t put into words how incredible this book is. The encouragement it is to see how God can use a Christian ruler to radically change the direction of an apathetic nation heading towards apostasy. The strategy King Alfred used to redirect England is the same strategy that we must employ. Repent, fight off the pagans, restore right worship, implement Christian education, overhaul the legal system to line up with the general equity of Israel’s civil code.

This book is a must read

F
Forest B.
One of my new favorite books

This book was so fascinating, and was told in such a gripping way. This will be one I read again and again for fun.

B
Brian K.
The White Horse King

Reads like a novel. It was hard to put it down. I really enjoyed it.

C
Catherine M.
Wonderful

Wonderful book! Engaging, academic but readable, fascinating. Loved every page.

T
Timothy L.
White Horse KInd

Learned a lot and was very well written

C
Customer
Merkle is an excellent biographer

This highly readable biography of King Alfred was a pleasure. Merkle does a fine job telling this great man's life and, despite having much material which could have come across as highly repetitive (one battle after another with the same foes, the Danish Vikings) he did sufficient research on each wartime engagement to exhibit the variety of tactics in the conflict, without burying the reader in excessive details. In a word, he kept the reader interested! I hope Merkle writes more biography, this appears to be his first and only for now. I'd recommend "The White Horse King" to anyone, as Alfred the Great is an important life in the history of Western civilization to know about, and this biography tells the story quite well.

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