PARDON OUR DUST, THIS IS A WORK IN PROGRESS! The ninth century, in all its course, was the century of Alfred the Great...against this background, of invasion and of war, of destruction and of lawlessness, of constant struggle on English soil between the foreign invader and the native-born, of ignorance deep and universal, ignorance concerning the things of God and of man, this king played his leading part, and for the high manner of his playing, stands alone among the rulers of English land." Alfred the Great: The King and His England by Eleanor Shipley Duckett.