Saxons vs. Vikings: Alfred the Great and England in the Dark Ages

A witty and concise look at the beginnings of English history, when the nation consolidated after clashes between the Saxons and invading Vikings.

In 871, three of England's four kingdoms were overrun by Vikings, the ruthless, all-conquering Scandinavian raiders who terrorized early medieval Europe. With the Norsemen murdering one king with arrows and torturing another to death by ripping out his lungs, the prospects that faced the kingdom of Wessex were bleak. Worse still, the Saxons were n...