Æthelred the Unready: The Failed King

In his fascinating new book in the Penguin Monarchs series, Richard Abels examines the long and troubled reign of Æthelred II the 'Unraed', the 'Ill-Advised'. It is characteristic of Æthelred's reign that its greatest surviving work of literature, the poem The Battle of Maldon, should be a record of heroic defeat. Perhaps no ruler could have stemmed the encroachment of wave upon wave of Viking raiders, but Æthelred will always be associated with that failure.

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.

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