The Vikings: Culture and Conquest / Edition 1

by Martin Arnold

Overview

The story of the Vikings is one of the most dramatic in European history. From their base in Scandinavia, Viking warriors and settlers spread across northern Europe, into Russia and across the Atlantic. After their first impact as fearsome raiders, destroying monasteries and plundering coastal settlements, the Vikings turned to conquest in England, Ireland and Normandy. In their longships they also penetrated into the Mediterranean and as far as Byzantium, as well as establishing settlements in Iceland and Greenland and discovering Vinand, or America. This book is a concise and clear survey of who the Vikings were, what they did, why they did it and how we know about them. It includes an account of heir remarkable saga literature and is likely to become a standard work on the subject.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781847251909
Publisher:	Bloomsbury Academic
Publication date:	01/15/2008
Pages:	256
Product dimensions:	6.14(w) x 9.21(h) x 0.56(d)

About the Author

Martin Arnold is Professor of Scandinavian Literature at Hull University. He is the author of The Vikings (Continuum, 2006).

Table of Contents

1 The Vikings in History2 Society and Religion3 Battle on Land and at Sea4 England; Ireland and Wales 789-9005 England, Ireland and Wales 900-10706 Scotland and the Orkneys7 Western Europe8 Russia and the East9 Atlantic Explorations and SettlementsNotesBibliography

Editorial Reviews

"This book presents a concise and readable overview of an era of perennial interest. Well-suited for use in the college classroom, but ... also appealing to generalist readers." - Thomas A DuBois, The Historian, Fall 2008--Sanford Lakoff

"fascinating and occasionally gruesome tome." - Gary Young in Birmingham Mail, 2008

"A solid introduction written with clarity." - The Herald, 2008

From the Publisher