During the last two decades, numerous studies have been devoted to the Victorian fascination with King Arthur, however . the figure of King Alfred has received almost no attention. For much of the nineteenth century, Alfred was as important as Arthur in the British popular imagination. A pervasive cult of the king developed which included the erection of at least four public statues, the completion of more than twentyfive paintings, and the publication of over a hundred texts, by authors ranging from Wordsworth to minor women writers. By 1852, J.A. Froude could describe Alfreds life as the favourite story in English nurseries in 1901, a national holiday marked the thousandth anniversary of his death, organised by a committee including Edward Burne Jones, Arthur Conan Doyle and Thomas Hughes. Englands darling sets out to answer the questions that must arise in the face of such nineteenthcentury enthusiasm for a longdead king. It addresses a genuine gap in the literature on Victorian medievalism in particular and cultural history in general and argues that knowledge of the cult of Alfred is crucial to understanding the Victorian cultural map. The book examines the ways in which Alfred was rewritten by nineteenthcentury authors and artists, and asks how beliefs about the Saxon kings reign and achievements related to nineteenthcentury ideals about leadership, law, religion, commerce, education and the Empire. The book concludes by addressing the most interesting enigma in...

Binding: Hardcover;264 pages; Publisher: Manchester University Press (P648); Classification: ACV; Weight: 664.31 g; Dimensions: 234 x 156

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