A fine holiday in Wessex

We have just returned from a great holiday with my parents, filled with much fun & joy. A superb break. Amidst a swim, some lovely walks and not inconsiderable amounts of feasting I even got my teeth into King Alfred the Great. I have childhood memories of a history book in which he appeared, but I have never really taken him seriously, or been attracted to him until the last week or two. My loss. Truly is he called 'the Great'.
I enjoyed Ben Merkle's book enormously and I would recommend it to historian and non-historian alike. Ben gives some helpful corrections to the 'tone' and 'bent' of 'professional' historians and is himself that rare thing - a serious minded Christian writing engagingly and (I think) credible Christ-centred history. And he writes without endless footnotes, without getting tangled up with trying to look impressive and without the paralysis that can afflict this period of history due to the sparce nature of the surviving evidence.
So I would say something for everyone!
I also stretched myself to re-read Asser's Life of King Alfred (which can be easily found on the web and is not that long) and in doing so was inspired to go and look round Sherborne Abbey (where he was Bishop and where 2 of Alfred's brothers are buried). Strange to be a tourist where I have sat many hours as a school boy!

All in all a very encouraging holiday.
Oh yes, and my sister introduced me to Farmville. But I will not get sucked into that!