"[An] enthralling work of historical detection. . . . In the pages of this remarkable biography—a work suffused with a rare empathy—Æthelstan emerges as a character of flesh and blood.”—Hywel Williams, Times Literary Supplement

"[A] compelling new biography….Foot manages to construct a remarkably clear vision of this king who deserves to be more widely known.”—David Musgrove, BBC History Magazine (Books of the Year)

“[An] outstanding biography….From a wide range of sources….Foot has pieced together a narrative that speaks of the realities of a vanished world…..Foot has amassed and arranged the evidence for Æthelstan life with great skill and flair….a triumph of historiography that celebrates a life rich in spiritual, intellectual and martial endeavor. Revisionary, thoughtful, beautifully written and exhaustively researched, this biography of Æthelstan is set to become a classic.”—Helen Fulton, Times Higher Education

“[A] definitive and comprehensive study that fully does justice to Æthelstan for the first time.”—Nicholas Orme, Church Times

“…extraordinary well-researched and very scholarly…this is a particularly welcome volume which will serve as a foundation for further work on the period.”—Northern History

'Sarah Foot's wide-ranging, detailed and sympathetic account offers many thought-provoking insights into a crucial and formative period in British history. In its pages Æthelstan emerges from the shadows as one of the great English rulers. It will be essential reading for all future explorers in the field.' - Michael Wood, author of In Search of the Dark Ages

"Æthelstan was perhaps the most important king of tenth-century England, but we know very little about him, and he has no modern biography. Sarah Foot triumphantly fills this gap, and adds to the richness of our understanding of the period in a way that few others have managed." - Chris Wickham, author of The Inheritance Of Rome: A History of Europe from 400 to 1000

'Sarah Foot's impressive portrait of Æthelstan is very well grounded, and informed at every turn by her command of the available "literary" sources, of the evidence of archaeology and art-history, and of course by her own judgment and imagination. She brings many fresh insights and new perspectives to our understanding of Æthelstan's reign, and shows why he can be hailed as the first king of all the English peoples.' - Simon Keynes, University of Cambridge

'In Æthelstan, Sarah Foot presents most successfully a remarkably vibrant portrait of a king whose visage has been clouded for many of us far too long.' - Patrick Conner

'Sarah Foot's Æthelstan is a major achievement of scholarship which draws back into the light England's most unjustly forgotten king. By examining Æthelstan in the various environments in which he lived and operated rather than through a more traditional chronological framework, Foot creates for the reader a persuasive portrait of a complex man - a pious and intellectual warrior king - who overcame a difficult childhood and disputed succession to become one of tenth-century Europe's most powerful and successful rulers.' - Richard Abels, author of Alfred the Great: War, Culture and Kingship in Anglo-Saxon England

'Here at last is a biography doing full justice to one of the most important, but least remembered, Anglo-Saxon laymen: Sarah Foot comes as close as anyone can to interpreting Æthelstan's enigmatic personality and varied achievements.' - John Blair, author of The Church in Anglo-Saxon Society

?Very welcome indeed . . . the first book-length treatment of the king . . . a measured and well-written account.??Charles Insley, Historian