A Brief History of the Vikings

Author(s): Jonathan Clements

What They're Reading | European

JOE SKYRNSKI , CO-FOUNDER CHAMP EQUITY:
"A fascinating account of the Vikings’ ferocious raiding history -- the besieging of Paris, which was rewarded with Normandy; the attack on Constantinople after rolling their boats overland from the Baltic to the Black Sea. Displays of incredible seamanship across turbulent northern oceans, centuries before Christopher Columbus “discovered” the 'New World.'"
'From the Fury of the Northmen deliver us, O Lord'. Between the eighth and eleventh centuries, the Vikings surged from their Scandinavian homeland to trade, raid and invade along the coasts of Europe. Their influence and expeditions extended from Newfoundland to Baghdad, their battles were as far-flung as Africa and the Arctic. But were they great seafarers or desperate outcasts, noble heathens or oafish pirates, the last pagans or the first of the modern Europeans? This concise study puts medieval chronicles, Norse sagas and Muslim accounts alongside more recent research into ritual magic, genetic profiling and climatology. It includes biographical sketches of some of the most famous Vikings, from Erik Bloodaxe to Saint Olaf, and King Canute to Leif the Lucky. It explains why the Danish king Harald Bluetooth lent his name to a twenty-first century wireless technology; which future saint laughed as she buried foreign ambassadors alive; why so many Icelandic settlers had Irish names; and, how the last Viking colony was destroyed by English raiders. Extending beyond the traditional 'Viking age' of most books, "A Brief History of the Vikings" places sudden Scandinavian population movement in a wider historical context. It presents a balanced appraisal of these infamous sea kings, explaining both their swift expansion and its supposed halt. Supposed because, ultimately, the Vikings didn't disappear: they turned into us.


Product Information

The last pagans or the first modern Europeans?

Jonathan Clements is the author of Pirate King, Moon in the Pines and Confucius: A Biography. He lives in London and Jyvaskyla.

General Fields

  • : 9781845290764
  • : Little, Brown Book Group Limited
  • : Robinson Publishing
  • : 0.21
  • : August 2005
  • : 200mm X 130mm X 20mm
  • : United Kingdom
  • : books

Special Fields

  • : Jonathan Clements
  • : family trees
  • : 320
  • : very good
  • : 948.022
  • : English
  • : Paperback