Viking Empires

by Angelo Forte, Richard Oram, Frederik Pedersen

Viking Empires is a definitive new history of five hundred years of Viking civilization and the first study of the global implications of the expansion, integration, and reorientation of the Viking World. From the first contact in the 790s, the book traces the political, military, social, cultural and religious history of the Viking Age from Iceland to Lithuania. The authors show that it is no longer possible to understand the history of the Norman Conquest, the successes of David I of Scotland, or German settlement in Poland, Prussia and the Baltic States without integrating the internal history of Scandinavia. The book concludes with a new account of the end of the Viking era, arguing that there was no sudden decline but only the gradual absorption of the Scandinavian kingdoms into the larger project of the crusades and a refocusing of imperial ambitions on the Baltic States and Eastern Europe. The authors, experts in Scottish history, medieval studies, and law, have taught a course on Viking history to undergraduates at the University of Aberdeen for a number of years.

Genres: History, Nonfiction

462 pages, Hardcover

First published May 1, 2005

Reviews

[Max Adams · Rating 2 out of 5]

I must admit to a severe disappointment. The book makes a bold claim to definitiveness, which it fails to live up to. It's CUP, so I expect at the very least tight editing and rock-solid referencing. It's clunkily written by academics who have no feel for prose. Its focus, despite the title, is narrow - virtually no appreciation of the archaeology - coins, for example, which are revolutionising our understanding of the period. It also suffers from having been published before major contributuions to the literature - for example, John Blair's Church in Anglo-Saxon Society; even so, their reading is limited. There is no sense that the Viking period has a context in landscape and community; and the narrative is absolutely standard history from the chronicles, apart from an interesting but off-key chapter on boats. Odd. Very odd.

[Gmork6 · Rating 2 out of 5]

Quite nice, however it's really anglocentric and abandons a lot of Norse related information, giving the impression the Vikings were focused in (and on) the West mainly. There is a lot of false information in that book, thankfully corrected in Polish edition by professor Leszek Słupecki. It's good to know it's contents but it's quite far from being a reliable source.

[Alejo · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very throrough and complete, it fills into a lot of gaps

[5 pound poi · Rating 2 out of 5]

Book report length information.

[Tim Ormsby · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very detailed history of the western Viking expansions. Lots of information on Scandinavia during the pre-Viking era and how the Romans helped unleash the northmen on England. Also loved the chapters on Viking boats. Sadly no focus on their eastern expansions and their founding of Russia but the authors explain that from the very beginning so it's not unexpected.

[Sarah · Rating 3 out of 5]

This text was able to provide me with some extra reading regarding my viking module