Yet others are testament to the remarkable coincidences and connections that make up history: two fragments of silk from two women’s hair caps, one discovered in York, the other in Lincoln, which thanks to a fault in the weave can be traced to the same bale of Persian (or perhaps Chinese) silk. Sites of first-phase Viking raids, 750–833 CE: most are on Irish coast; English monasteries and ports; French coastal towns. it's shockingly obvious that appeasement is seldom a worthwhile strategy, and is always an expensive one; the reputation of the Norse people as warriors was such that they merely needed to show up to be given boatloads of money to go away again; and the tribute in kind, not just the cash they brought home, kept the balance of hunger on the rightful owners of the land and food not the invaders. What I appreciated most about this book was how it offered a nuanced look into Viking society and culture beyond their military conquests.

The third, and last, part focuses on the colonies of the Vikings and their lasting influence over Europe, Asia and even North America.Door deze ervaring en kennis kan hij een levendig beeld schetsen van de Vikingwereld, ondanks dat dit toch als een wetenschappelijk boek kan gezien worden. It shows that the Viking expansion began generations before the Lindisfarne raid, and traces Scandinavian history back centuries further to see how these people came to be who they were. He is getting into the head under the helmet and looking out through the eyes of a Viking at the Viking universe.

Scholarly, colourful and often remarkably funny, this is history at its very best, a richly decorated window on to a very strange world. He bases his own personal definition of what constitutes a “town” on his appalling sense of direction: if he could get lost in it, it’s probably a town. This is an incredible book, and I chose to listen to it in audiobook format, which was an outstanding choice. Dit boek maakt heel duidelijk dat ons clichébeeld van rovende en plunderende wildebeesten in hun drakenschepen geen recht doet aan de Noormannen en Vikingen.

Such an approach has strong modern-day resonances: a multi-gendered, multi-ethnic account of the era that embraces diversity in the mental landscapes of human nature, telling a story of cultural transformations and influences criss-crossing in many directions. Reason for the 4 stars- at times I lost interest and wanted to skip through some sections (but I didn't! Many Viking-era graves have been found containing a large male skeleton with an apparently teenage female skeleton.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read such an excellent example of a non-fiction history book, it was a pleasure. I found the first half less than scintillating :) The second half picks up when the author starts writing about the Viking Dispora and the raiding. I have always been amazed at how much an archaeological situation can tell us, for example, a Vikings burial holds the tales of a saga. The important thing, in my view , for any expert is that as the expert you know more than anyone listening or reading - you don't need to prove it, unless you are disputing with other experts - and these were the parts I found a little heavy going.I also found the organisation of the last third of the book to be somewhat jumbled, with chapters whose titles didn’t quite match their topics and whose overarching goals perhaps weren’t as clearly defined as they could be.

The Viking Age -- from 750 to 1050 -- saw an unprecedented expansion of the Scandinavian peoples into the wider world. The title references a Viking creation myth, and quotes one of the phrases they used to describe themselves. Certainly I can't share everything, but I would encourage anyone who is interested in an equitable history of the Vikings to read Children of Ash and Elm. What follows in subsequent chapters is the progression from raiding to invasions, conquests and settlements, in the context of the piratical sea-kings and large-scale trading networks that were opening up across the world.He also puts the stereotype image of horn helmeted marauders into the larger social context of Viking society. Dus ook al ging het lezen soms minder vlot, toch heb ik dit boek graag gelezen, en ben een stuk wijzer geworden. Wetenschappelijk verantwoord, zeer uitgebreid en op zich lekker geschreven onderzoek naar de Vikingen.