The Vikings: A History

Engaging history of one of the world's great traveling peoples. I really liked the author's focus on the long, slow adoption of Christianity, which threw the Viking stereotype into sharp relief. Some choices, likely editorial, seemed odd. For one, I found the chapters dealing with the Vikings in England hard to read because, I think the book assumes that the reader is already familiar with medieval England (I am not). I suspect that the author wrote for an English or British audience, as he goes into greater detail about Ireland. Another odd choice was the lack of discussion of the runic alphabet. In a few passages, the author used unfamiliar letters without explaining how they'd be pronounced in English. Still, fascinating take.

This book is a very well-researched history of Scandinavia, particularly during the period when the Danes, the Swedes, and the Norwegians went "viking" and became known by that name. These people traveled to so many parts of the world and founded so many countries (e.g., Iceland, Ireland) that their influence is staggering. It would be difficult to find a Western nation and some Eastern nations which lack Viking influence in some form. Initially, these people scavenged, raided, killed, and frightened many who lived on the coasts of Western Europe. Later, they experienced a settlement period and expanded their territories inland. They founded Rus and Iceland, and built what became Ireland's cities. They also went to Byzantium and Italy, among many other places. Their skill with boat-building is well known and served them well. They were creative peoples but, given the different places from which they came, did not necessarily behave or conceptualize in the same way. This is an excellent book both for the neophyte and the more seasoned.

What a fabulous book. For those that are Scandinavian it is a true walk back into history, the true history. Very heady meaning it is not an easy read but a wonderful look back into time, where the facts are documented. I loved this book. Great read.

Ferguson is fabulous! I had trouble putting this book down. I felt I was living the Viking era. The first book on Norse history that mades the cultural and cosmological belief system of the Vikings clear to me. There is no bias in this history. The Vikings are brutal, but they are also traders and colonists. Since most of our information about the Vikings is derived from Christian sources, it is refreshing to read something of Charlemagne's brutality toward the Heathen Saxons. Could this have influenced the Viking raiders' viciousness? It seems likely.

This book is very detailed and historicaly accurate document following main happenings in Viking history in IX-X century. People, places and motive are described in mostly chronological order, in Normandy, Danmark, British islands and Norway. But, this book is not for amateurs looking for romantic and epic work about Viking history.This is not Saga, but years of fact collecting and mapping. It requires deeper knowledge of specially interested in in Viking history, with enough knowledge to follow up different happenings and names in different times and places, in slowly changing geopolitical situation. Book is not easy to follow, and it is very factual, dry. Experts shall find it repeating and as a good ressource to quote from, but for wider public it could be too detailed and factual to follow.

I am an amateur reader of history; mostly the medieval era and US 1700-1800s. This was my first read about the Vikings. I enjoyed this book very much. "The Vikings" was easy to follow and presents an comprehensible overview of the Viking Era. I do wish this book contained a few more maps. Thank you Mr. Ferguson for your efforts and adoration of such a valuable subject.

Although this is a book that is full of information and interesting anecdotes, as others have also written it is fragmented and is not the easiest book to read - even for a history major. Of course, part of this is because of the nature of the Vikings; i.e., they came from different parts of Scandinavia (various parts of Denmark, Norway and Sweden), traveled to many different places to raid, trade and colonize, and many of these things happened concurrently. However, I got a feeling that the author didn't really have a consistent approach to how he presented the material which would have made the book easier to read. All in all, an informative book, but you will have to commit to finishing it IMHO. If you want a book that is easier to read, you might want to look at some other books, such as Lars Brownworth's "The Sea Wolves: A History of the Vikings."

Bought this as a gift. The person loves history and especially leaning about Viking. He loved this book! It still sits on our bookcase and gets reviewed regularly.

Questo libro di Ferguson è un libro fantastico e avvincente! per tutti gli appassionati del genere, ve ne consiglio l'acquisto! per chi ama come me le storie dei popoli germanici non si può non leggerlo!

Really good book...has a lot of information about the Vikings lives and history.

Looks like an interesting read.

The Seller has sold this wonderful Viking History book at a very low-price. It has an active & colorful sea scene on the cover. It's a very reader-friendly book & contains several, relevant pictures of Viking-Age : carved stones with writing & figures on them, artefacts like jewellry, coins, small wooden figurines, gilded church altar pieces, pictures of terrain where Viking activity took place...,etc... A Very interesting & nicely-explained history.

Excellent!!!