The Age of the Vikings Paperback – March 1, 2016

After a trip to Sweden I searched for a book on the Vikings, one with depth and no axe to grind per other book reviews. This one was near perfect. It’s not chronological, it’s divided into subjects ( war, religion, art, etc) that explain the complex tapestry of this civilization. The author notably relies on information from the Viking period and not centuries later. It’s a relatively easy read with great pics. Enjoy!

I bought this book for Carrie for her birthday and it is a pretty comprehensive account of the history of the Vikings, discussing the rise and fall of these Norsemen but also the voyages of Viking men to Greenland and eastern North America. As a matter of fact, kids who were taught in school that Christopher Columbus sailed the ocean blue will have to reckon with the fact that the Vikings were the first people confirmed to have set foot in North America considering that Columbus only set foot in the Caribbean.

There has been an explosion of television series and movies related to Vikings in recent years. Watching them I wasn't sure what was historically accurate vs glamorized for cinematic effect. I wanted to find a book to help educate me on what is fact vs fiction on the topic of Vikings. This book was perfect. It provided the right amount of detail without getting too deep in the weeds. I plan on keeping this book to refer back to over time. I would and have recommend this book to others.

The introduction to the book, with its detailed description of a chieftain in his hall during a feast, was arguably the most engaging lead-in for a general history of the Vikings book that I've read. I found Mr. Winroth's exposition less dry than, say, Ferguson's book, and at least as engaging as Jesch or Cavill, if not as detailed. This is a good read for those who are fairly new to the subject. The field of Viking history has been in desperate need of a new, talented communicator to the general public, and here Winroth certainly has thrown his hat into the mix for that spot. I look forward to seeing a lot more from him in the near future.

The most interesting aspect of this book is the answer to the question why the Vikings were considered such vicious marauders while Charlemagne is considered a hero in Western Europe. After all, they used many similar methods in achieving their aims: increasing their wealth, status and territory. The answer provided by the author is that the Vikings aimed many of their raids at the only literate group of the time, monks and other churchmen. Those were the people that wrote histories. And why did the Vikings attack monasteries? To paraphrase, that's where the wealth was. So this book is in part a commentary on the economics of the time. Charlemagne supported the Christians and vice versa, increasing both his wealth and territory and theirs. Moreover, rather than being just raiders, the Vikings were traders and settlers, ultimately seeking territory for their families and friends. Thus, they aggravated the other powerful group of the time, the rulers of the territories they encroached, including the heirs of Charlemagne.Beyond these questions this book is a fairly straightforward history of the period based on what little was written at the time and archeological findings. The most interesting other parts to me concerned the Viking ships and runestones, one source of information about the people of the Viking age. Considerable effort is put toward explaining Viking poetic sagas, which appear to be deliberately vague. I would have preferred to see more about their role as explorers and settlers of new territory.

Anders Winroth is the author of the magnificent book The Conversion of Scandinavia, where he takes an interdisciplinary approach to recreate Scandinavia's conversion to Christianity from their own perspective (if you haven't read that book, go read it now). Here in The Age of the Vikings, he takes a similar in depth approach into the Viking Age in general. Every aspect of the Viking Age, from raiding, to trade, to religion, to art is explored carefully and vividly reconstructed. This book makes use of various sources from across all regions with Viking contact creating a very complete picture of the time. Winroth does all this in a lively writing style that is sure to keep you entertained as you go along on this informative journey. I recommend this for graduate students and casual readers alike.

This book is well written and researched but pretty dry. It’s more like a text book with lot’s of info. The history from the early period is sketchy so it moved thru that fairly quickly but if you want a factual read this is a good one.

This is one of the best books I’ve read on the subject. Chalk full of information backed by reputable sources. I haven’t been able to put it down.I also genuinely appreciate how it highlights the fact that during those very violent times many kingdoms were pillaging and raiding. some on a scale far out weighing the Vikings. Seems like they were just more honest about it.