Vikings: Raids, Culture, Legacy

by Marjolein Stern, Roderick Dale

From the remote and unforgiving landscape of northern Europe, the Vikings voyaged to far-flung areas of the world with extraordinary consequences. Vikings examines the origins, explorations and settlements of these seafaring people, exploring their impact on the world as colonizers, craftsmen, traders and state-makers. This highly illustrated book provides a revealing portrait of the Vikings' incredible legacy with a collection of photographs and rare documents.

Genres: History, Nonfiction

144 pages, Hardcover

Reviews

[abthebooknerd · Rating 4 out of 5]

An awesome guide for those seeking a greater understanding of the history behind Vikings, and their way of life.

I read this to do some writing research for a project I'm currently working on (*knocks on wood*), and it was super helpful.

I wanted more insight into the everyday life of someone who lived in the Nordic countries and participated in this particular way of life during the Viking Age, but I did get some insight which is better than none at all, and that's all I really wanted...Lol. All in all, great intro to Viking history! Also, it was prettyyyy.

[James · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a pictorial book for the most part, however contained very good reading at the same time. I did not find a single fact that was to my knowledge, incorrect or used improperly. The visuals were superb, with a huge range of tapestries,burial items, paintings and photographs of landscapes. It’s s a solid book in both physical nature & content. I enjoyed it and intend to re-read it soon.

[William Hale]

A waste of time to read!

As was mentioned in other reviews, this book is basically a coffee table picture book for beginners who wish to act like they know vikings, probably pushed out to the public without research or knowledge to take advantage of the TV show. Almost NOTHING that they said about the eastern vikings forays into Eastern Europe were accurate. The vikings did not found Novgorod and then move south and create Kyiv and continue raiding and trading in Contantinople, it is not RUS-ian Kyiv, it was called Kievan RUS. Kyiv is almost 1500 years old and was around long before the vikings started coming to RUS. Did the authors actually do ANY research in Eastern Europe or did they make it all up from their ivied halls in Western Europe and hope people would just assume that they are experts? Go to Novgorod, go to Kyiv and you will quickly find that EVERYTHING they said about the Eastern Vikings period is false. Honestly, it reads as a dissertation defense when the dissertation committee knows nothing of the actual subject. The level of inaccuracy about the Eastern voyages of the vikings makes me seriously reconsider the accuracy of the voyages to west and south, which in reality, is very little more than basic viking-ology at best anyway.

[AJ · Rating 2 out of 5]

It is a good starter book for those who are interested in learning the basics. Pretty book, but not much more than that. The bibliography was lacking, the images had their own sources in the back, but the information that was being put on the pages had no citations so a person reading it doesn't know what source the writers information is coming from and if the information they are putting is even completely factual. Which is upsetting, but I should have known better than to buy a book because it looked pretty.

[Chase Parsley · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a decent overview on the history and legacy of the vikings. The book has a beautiful cover and a lot of great pictures too. I thought the writing was a bit too straightforward...there could have been more case studies, interviews, sagas, info on religion, etc. to make the era more enlightening, but overall the book did its job and was good.

[Paul Peterson · Rating 4 out of 5]

My introduction to Viking history...prior to this I'd just scraped the surface, but this book gives one a broad, somewhat deeper, introduction. Happy to learn that the Vikings put much down in writing and much has been translated into English. This will be an important plank in the History of Europe studies I need to embark on.

[DJ · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love any and everything that has to do with Vikings, so I obviously loved this! It was very interesting and the small descriptions with the pictures were amazing. I would definitely recommend this to someone that wants to learn more about the Vikings.

[Jim Milks · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is well written, moving briskly along without getting bogged down. However, it is a basic introduction to the Viking Age, nothing more, nothing less. If you want scholarly depth, you’ll need to go elsewhere.

[Oualide Hassni · Rating 5 out of 5]

Mrc

[Autum · Rating 4 out of 5]

Vikings week 1-2 ✔️✔️✔️

This was interesting. I can’t count on both hands how many Harald’s were mentioned.

[Tiberiu Baranyi · Rating 4 out of 5]

Insight into the culture of the Vikings ... nicely put together , interesting and captivating read.

[Erik · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nice intro to Viking culture. Nothing too in depth, but covers most aspects of the Norse lifestyle. Lots of great pictures too.

[Kathryn · Rating 5 out of 5]

I liked it! Wish there was more!

Second read still such a great resource!