This is a fascinating and well written and researched account of a crucial but little known period of English history. Son of a much more famous father Alfred the Great, who fought an existential threat to Anglo Saxon England by holding off the Vikings from conquering Wessex in the 870s and later; and father of Athelstan, who largely completed the conquest of the territory of what is now England and defeated all his enemies comprehensively in the battle of Brunanburh in 937, probably the most famous battle on English soil before 1066, Edward has been the forgotten king sandwiched in between. But it was under his rule that the vital steps were made through a combination of military means and diplomatic alliances to create, in the author's words, "the template for modern England", including the start of the creation of the shire system, which is still largely intact today. By the time of his death in 924, he was the sole native ruler in England, i.e. excluding the diminished area in the north east including York, still controlled by the Danes, thus faced with the challenges of ruling over a larger country than any ruler in the country ever had before, legitimately earning the title first king of England. Edward was also a European ruler, not just an English one, and many of his numerous daughters (he married three times) were sought by rulers across the continent to form powerful marriage alliances. No fewer than three of his sons became king after him, Athelstan, Edmund and Edred, but only Edmund produced sons of his own, and it was through him that the Anglo Saxon line continued. Mention must also be made of his sister Ethelfleda, lady of the Mercians, a powerful ruler in her own right, who played her own equally substantial contribution in expanding the Anglo Saxon state through struggle against the Danes and other enemies.

As is always the case with a book about an Anglo Saxon figure, no full biography in the modern sense is possible of Edward, given the lack of sources available, the only significant contemporary sources being the Anglo Saxon Chronicle, around 30 charters signed by him, all from the early part of his reign, and a few other legal documents. We will never know what he was like as a person, other than reasonable assumptions we can make based on his actions. But the author takes what facts we do know and weaves an interesting narrative from them, speculating intelligently where she can, and avoiding an excessively dry and academic style. Some illustrations and a family tree would have been helpful, though. ( )