Magazine Publication: Alfred the Great

As noted here before the first items I published were short magazine articles, FYI's in Strategy & Tactics.

My second feature length article came out in 2004. It was actually a milestone because it wasn't in S&T, instead the piece was published in the soon thereafter defunct Medieval History. I have that effect. I was the last baby born in the maternity word of Mt. Kisko General before it was demolished.

Anyhoo, the article was 'The Wars of Alfred the Great,' now available at De Re Militari.

The wars of Alfred the Great was originally a paper I did at AMU for my Medieval Warfare Class under Professor Brian Todd Carey. who suggested I start trying to publish.  I'm am both loyal and biased but I strongly recommend Warfare in the Medieval World as an intro to the topic.

I wrote Alfred during my night owl days, that hard winter of 2002. Whether it was actually a hard winter I don't know. My wife and I had just moved back to the northeast from Virginia into a rustic, drafty farmhouse and man it seemed cold. I would start writing about 10  PM, take a break at 12:15 to watch Bill Maher, and then press on through till about 3 or 4 AM. That paper and eventual article were a lot fun. First the sources. There was Asser's Life of Alfred and the epic Anglo-Saxon Chronicle which reads like it was written by enthusiastic fans of the films Excalibur and Conan the Barbarian. Being  raised on those myself, some of the tone comes thought in The Wars of Alfred the Great.

Enjoy!