Page 89 - All About History - Issue 33-15

Reviews

IN SEARCH OF ALFRED

THE KING, THE GRAVE,
THE GREAT: THE LEGEND
Uncover the story of the monarch that faced the Vikings

Author Edoardo Albert and Katie Tucker Publisher Amberley
Price £9.99 Released Out now

fter a high-profile excavation in Winchester like a cinematic experience resembling the
in early 2014, led by osteologist and History Channel show Vikings thanaworkof
archaeologist Katie Tucker, the remains of an nonfiction. His resume, including the historical
iconic British monarch were found in a rather fiction trilogy The Northumbrian Thrones,
Aun-royal cardboard box, kept in a museum’s explains this style, and it certainly increases the
storage for years. entertainment value of the book.
This reignited interest in one of Britain’s most It is, however, in stark contrast to Dr Katie
famous kings, and inspired the release of this Tucker’s contribution to the book. The book
retelling of Alfred the Great’s life. While arguably comeswithafewpagesofinformativeimages,
the book’s largest selling point, the actual discovery including artefacts and documents from
is not covered until chapter 12: The Post-Mortem Alfred’stimeasaruler,andtheverypelvic
Story of Alfred. Edoardo Albert spends the bonethoughttobelongtothekinghimself.
remaining chapters following his “main character”, While they certainly add to the experience
a distraught and defeated King Alfred. of the book, they appear quite abruptly amid
Chronicling Alfred’s rise as a leader from an Albert’s retelling of Alfred’s life story. While
early age, including the untimely death of his certainly an entertaining and well-written read
father Æthelwulf, Albert paints a picture of a wise forfansofhistoricalfiction,ifyouwerehoping
and conflicted ruler. Often taking Alfred’s point of foranin-depthbreakdownofAlfred’srule,the
view, Albert’s contribution to the book reads more book might not deliver.

SOLDIER SLANG OF

THE FIRST WORLD WAR

From‘ack-ack’to‘ziff’,soldiersusedslangtohelpget
themthroughthehorrorsofwar

Author Emily Brewer Publisher Amberley Price £8.99 Released Out now

mily Brewer’s Soldier Slang Of The First World ‘chat’, ‘chum’, ‘posh’ and ‘scrounge’ were all used
War introduces the reader to almost every frequently by Brits during the war and ‘bootcamp’
piece of dialect used by soldiers during the and ‘cake walk’ arrived from over the Atlantic as
Great War. Whether it was used to describe popular American slang. Brewer doesn’t just stick to
Ea German mortar (blind pig) or a local the Allied side and also delves into the words used
Belgian town (Wipers instead of Ypres), the puns, by the Germans and Austrians. Perhaps not quite as
neologisms, slang, dialect, and mispronunciations interesting for the British reader, they nevertheless
entertained the troops, kept them out of trouble provide an interesting and alternative view on the
with their officers and could even help them escape war. One notable phrase is ‘England’s Schrecken’,
a sticky situation. The book does a sterling job of which translates to ‘England’s Fear’. This terrifying
presenting the many phrases of the era. Appearing nickname was used for the Zeppelin airships that
in alphabetical order, words can easily be found on terrorised Britain. Overall, the book does exactly
repeated reads and are all accompanied by a short what it says on the tin and makes some interesting
and interesting description. Did you know ‘Tommy’, insights into how soldiers on both sides chatted
slang for a British soldier, came from the standard during the war. A personal favourite from the book
recruitment form example name ‘Tommy Atkins’? is ‘dream sack’, which was a lovely piece of slang
Flicking through the book, familiar words still for ‘hammock’. The drive for it to be included in the
in use today jump out. ‘Backchat’, ‘binge’, ‘blighty’, Oxford English Dictionary starts here.
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