Synopsis
The Vikings dominated Western Europe from the 9th to the 11th centuries. In this account of the Viking world, every aspect of Viking life is examined. Important chapters on ships, runes and religion have been contributed by specialist authors, and the text is complemented by illustrations, including maps and reconstruction drawings. Photographs, many of them especially commissioned, portray the brilliant products of the Vikings' culture and the beauty and harshness of the natural world they faced.
Library Journal
In this general overview, edited by a leading scholar in the field, Scandinavian history and expansion from circa 750 to 1150 C.E. are explored thematically. The book's four sections cover the Vikings' origins, Viking-age Scandinavia, overseas interactions, and the end of the Viking world. The thematic organization creates confusion, often forcing one to jump centuries within a paragraph. Substandard research-e.g., King Harald Fairhair is referred to as Harald Finehair-casts doubt on the book's credibility, and the writing style can be trite ("The Vikings were a people who had great respect for the law-though that is not how they are usually thought of today"). Many superior books, such as Donald Logan's The Vikings in History (Hutchinson, 1983), Else Roesdahl's The Vikings (Allen Lane, 1987), and editor Graham-Campbell's The Viking World (Ticknor & Fields, 1980), exist for general readers.-Kurt I. Munson, St. Ambrose Univ., Davenport, Ia.