06/21/2021
This ambitious yet unconvincing history tracks the influence of Nordic culture on the world from the Bronze Age to the rise of Silicon Valley. The “Viking heart,” according to historian Herman (How the Scots Invented the World ), is “a frame of mind, a way of life” that has been passed down through centuries of the Scandinavian diaspora, and is defined by the “willingness to venture out into the complete unknown... with the confidence that somewhere on the other side of the far horizon, freedom and a new home await.” He profiles Nordic leaders including Danish king Canute the Great, who ruled both Denmark and England in the 11th century, and General Motors CEO William Knudsen, who spearheaded FDR’s efforts to develop an “arsenal of democracy” in the run-up to WWII. People of Scandinavian descent have played an especially prominent role in American history, according to Herman, who discusses football coach Knute Rockne’s innovations at Notre Dame in the 1920s, agronomist Norman Borlaug’s Green Revolution in the 1950s and ’60s, and the influence of Norse myths on today’s geek culture. The vignettes are appealing, but amount to a historical highlight reel, rather than a cohesive and convincing narrative. This sweeping look at the Viking legacy never takes full sail. (Aug.)
Amazon Best Book of the Year “Heroic battles, sea adventures, empires rising and falling, voyages of discovery, and archaeological detective work—The Viking Heart shines brilliantly with them all. Arthur Herman triumphs with a stirring investigation of the Scandinavian influence on our times, both past and present. You won’t look at the world the same way again.”—Neal Bascomb, New York Times best-selling author of The Winter Fortress “The experience that Arthur Herman describes of the great Scandinavian diaspora—its passionate search for freedom, its love of community, its fearlessness in the face of harsh and unforgiving environments—is a story of joy and suffering I embrace as my own (thanks to my great-grandfather, who emigrated from Sweden in 1880), and it never has been better told.”—Allen Carl Guelzo, New York Times best-selling author of Gettysburg: The Last Invasion “A remarkably well-researched and well-written book—a must-read work both for anyone from the Nordic peoples who have so affected world history, but also for the rest of us. It is the story of how modern democracy was protected, Protestantism was saved from extinction, and kingdoms were established far from the fjords. Herman shows all the light and shade of the Viking legacy.”—Andrew Roberts, author of Churchill: Walking with Destiny “Absorbing, eloquent, and balanced, The Viking Heart is essential reading. Arthur Herman describes a great Scandinavian historical legacy of courage, daring, loyalty, and community. If sometimes abused, these qualities continue to offer enormous value today—and never less than food for thought.”—Barry Strauss, best-selling author of Ten Caesars: Roman Emperors from Augustus to Constantine “Herman makes a convincing case that the peoples of Scandinavia have contributed more to today’s world than they are given credit for . . . A fine history of a people who deserve more attention.”—Kirkus Reviews Booklist Library Journal The Viking Heart has something to offer . . . The Viking Heart honestly assesses the results of the Vikings’ past actions around the world and makes an evenhanded argument for the importance of Viking culture in U.S. history. As we wrestle with how to make our world a better, more equal place, The Viking Heart provides a framework for recognizing the importance of the past in shaping our present and future."—BookPage
07/01/2021
In this latest work, award-winning historian Herman (1917: Lenin, Wilson, and the Birth of the New World Disorder ) offers both an overview of Viking history and a microcosmic account of some Scandinavian descendants of Vikings, and their contributions to American life. Herman emphasizes that much Viking popular history is actually rooted in myth, and he demonstrates how modern scholarship has corrected those misconceptions. Throughout, Herman returns to traits of what he calls the "Viking heart," which he defines as the core of the culture that has evolved and been passed down generations and across continents. He starts with what we know of Viking chieftains, then discusses their explorer progeny and numerous stories of innovation and triumph. The entire book is interesting and thoroughly researched, but most readers (perhaps especially those of Scandinavian descent) will be particularly interested once Herman's narrative reaches U.S. soil, where familiar historical figures and events begin to factor in. VERDICT As in Herman's previous books, his writing is engaging and accessible and will engage fans of popular history. It doesn't aim to be an in-depth, exhaustive history, but rather offers some highlights and bite-sized narratives that make it an excellent armchair read.—Amanda Ray, Iowa City P.L., IA
Harald Bluetooth and Eric Bloodaxe may not sound like ambassadors of culture, but it is Arthur Herman’s contention that these and other Vikings have been unfairly pigeonholed. Rejecting long-held assumptions is hot work, but narrator Kiff VandenHeuvel throws his back into it. An actor and even a comedian, he’s transformed himself into a happy warrior, a fierce rhetorician. VandenHeuvel delivers this history as if it were the very Gospels the Norsemen burned. Sure, they slaughtered monks and took slaves, but their legacy, according to Herman, was ingenuity, the work ethic, and a faith in the impossible. If you want your assumptions shattered like—well like the peace and quiet of a raided city—then this is the audiobook for you. One caveat: If you should ever spot a dragon ship nosing your shoreline, drop that plough and run. B.H.C. © AudioFile 2021, Portland, Maine
SEPTEMBER 2021 - AudioFile
Harald Bluetooth and Eric Bloodaxe may not sound like ambassadors of culture, but it is Arthur Herman’s contention that these and other Vikings have been unfairly pigeonholed. Rejecting long-held assumptions is hot work, but narrator Kiff VandenHeuvel throws his back into it. An actor and even a comedian, he’s transformed himself into a happy warrior, a fierce rhetorician. VandenHeuvel delivers this history as if it were the very Gospels the Norsemen burned. Sure, they slaughtered monks and took slaves, but their legacy, according to Herman, was ingenuity, the work ethic, and a faith in the impossible. If you want your assumptions shattered like—well like the peace and quiet of a raided city—then this is the audiobook for you. One caveat: If you should ever spot a dragon ship nosing your shoreline, drop that plough and run. B.H.C. © AudioFile 2021, Portland, Maine
SEPTEMBER 2021 - AudioFile
2021-06-02
Hudson Institute senior fellow Herman makes a convincing case that the peoples of Scandinavia have contributed more to today’s world than they are given credit for. For more than two centuries after 780 C.E., Vikings wreaked havoc over immense areas of Europe and east Eurasia. Then, writes the author, “their role shifted from marauder to trader to settler.” An ex-Norseman ruled much of France and then invaded England in 1066 as William the Conqueror, who won at the Battle of Hastings. Other Normans expelled the Muslims from southern Italy and Sicily, becoming the dominant power on the peninsula and allowing the papacy to vastly expand its influence. Ironically, the lands they left behind became a backwater until the 16th century, when the Reformation returned them to center stage. Unlike persistent resistance in Britain and civil war in France and Germany, the Reformation converted Scandinavia with much less bloodshed. This proved critical when Catholic armies of the Holy Roman Empire were rampaging across Lutheran Germany. Their only opposition were forces led by Sweden’s King Gustavus Adolphus (1594-1632), who won spectacular victories that preserved Protestantism in Germany and may have made him Holy Roman Emperor—if he hadn’t died in battle. Herman then fast-forwards to the 19th century, when population and poverty grew and immigration to the U.S. became a major force. In the middle third of the book, the author describes Scandinavia’s contribution to America, which includes a significant chapter on the Civil War and long biographies of famous Scandinavian Americans, including Charles Lindbergh, Thorstein Veblen, Knut Rockne, and Carl Sandburg. In the 20th century, aided by the decision to stay out of World War I and escaping lightly from World War II, Scandinavian nations prospered into some of the world’s wealthiest and most socially progressive.
A fine history of a people who deserve more attention.
